Suzy Bogguss Performs at the Country Music Hall of Fame Museum

Suzy Bogguss posted this link to a concert at the Country Music Hall of Fame Museum on Facebook (click on the blue blog title). I decided I'd take the time to watch and listen. So glad I did! I've been fascinated by her friendship with Chet Atkins and found this performance enlightening as part of the concert included an interview by Ali Tonn with Suzy on the very subject. Based on her remembrances, you'd have to conclude that Chet was a delightful, modest man with a wonderfully dry sense of humor. He was a Nashville legend and Suzy was privileged to have his support early in her career. You'd have to be crazy to question his assessment of her lovely vocals knowing his tremendous musical credibility when he says "her voice sparkles like crystal water". This concert was similar enough to the one she did in Heber City, Utah that it could be a good substitute if you missed it or if you were there as was I, it's an excellent refresher. The band is fuller in this instance with the addition of Harry Stinson on drums and Fred Carpenter on fiddle/mandolin. The only complaint band-wise is there wasn't as much back and forth between Suzy and crew as there was in Utah. Pat Bergeson shines on the songs they cover that were originally done by Suzy and Chet. Seeing that Pat is a Chet protege, it shouldn't come as a big surprise that he can duplicate Chet's licks very well indeed. Of particular note are the Beatles number All My Loving and the oh so beautiful Michael Johnson penned When She Smiled at Him. When She Smiled at Him is one of my all time favorite Suzy numbers. So cool to see it performed live. Gotta see if I can get a request in for it the next time I see her perform! This concert is well worth watching for those two numbers alone. They also perform One More for the Road a number she co-wrote with Chet and husband Doug Crider. That's another one I'd never seen her perform before. Loved it! Pat's playing again is amazing. Check it out. You'll love it too!

Bar J Wranglers

I've been pretty lazy about Christmas concerts this year. Only been to 2, FM100's mini concert with Alex Boye/Nancy Hanson (does that count as 2?) on December 1st  and last Tuesday's Bar J Wrangler concert at UVU's UCCU events center. In other years I've caught a few more concerts, but these were good ones. Let me recommend the FM100 concerts as down loads from their website so attending is optional and can be enjoyed at your convenience. These are great for sampling the kind of talent that exists on the Wasatch front music scene. Find them @:

http://fm100.com/?sid=127566&nid=78

Now about the Bar J Wranglers. If you haven't seen these guys, you're really missing something. They do cowboy music in the retro style of the Sons of the Pioneers. There are a few other acts, Riders in the Sky spring to mind, who are keeping this form a music alive, but it's not common now-a-days. If you remember songs like Cool Water and Ghost Riders in the Sky, you know what kind of music we're talking about here. These boys hail from Jackson Hole, Wyoming and perform at their working ranch during the summer months. In the off months they travel around, thus the December appearance in Orem which has become traditional for them. It's almost become a tradition for me. I've been to 3 of their Christmas concerts over the last several years. My friend Ed loves them to death and calls them the best deal for the concert dollar you can find. We paid $11.00 for excellent GA seats this year, so who can argue with him! Their musicianship is top notch and their humor.... Let's just say you have to experience it! If you happen to catch one of their Christmas concerts you just might get to hear Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer set to a slightly different tune than you're used to. Would you believe Ghost Riders in the Sky?! Pretty wild! There are a couple of other things they do that I really appreciate. #1, they never perform the same show twice. Every time is a new experience. #2, they always make a great effort to be at the doors to meet and greet the fans on the way out. It was cool to shake hands and let them know how much I enjoyed and appreciated their performance. Catch 'em the next time they're in town. I've also heard their dinner programs at the ranch are worth the trip to Jackson. Gotta get up there some time.

Celtic Woman

I was able to view the latest Celtic Woman PBS special, Believe, this last week on one of our local PBS stations and it is playing again as I write. I love these Celtic Woman specials and have watched most of them over the years. The only down side is that they always coincide with fund raising for public television which means frequent interruptions, making the program more time consuming than necessary. Celtic Woman has been around since 2004 and is the brain child of Sharon Browne, producer and David Downes, musical director. The concept consists of a handful of soprano soloists and one female fiddle player doing a variety of songs in a manner that melds musical theatre with Irish folk, featuring modern and traditional numbers. Their music is both joyful and inspirational. For the most part the music is complex with chorus, orchestra, percussion, piano and of course fiddle/violin. Irish whistles and bag pipes are also often included. If you follow my thoughts at all, you'll know I lean towards simple arrangements sung by low voiced female singer/songwriters, but I'm making an exception here! These folks have created a formula that is very much like a well done Broadway show, visually and sonically pleasing. Truth of the matter, I do like a well performed Broadway performance, so this really isn't that far removed from my reality. Also, this concept is totally driven by the vocals and that for me is what always matters most. The principle artists are: Chloe Agnew, Lisa Kelly and Mairead Nesbitt. These 3 have been part of the group from the beginning. Mairead Nesbitt is the truly amazing fiddle/violin player. Chloe Agnew practically grew up with the group, being only 15 at its inception. Lisa Kelly was the lead singer for Riverdance for several years before becoming an original soloist with Celtic Woman. Sopranos beside Agnew and Kelly have come and gone over the years. They include: Meav Ní Mhaolchatha, Orla Fallon, Deirdre Shannon, Hayley Westenra, Alex Sharpe,  Lynn Hilary and Lisa Lambe. There's some speculation out on the web about why there's been so much turnover. It's not my purpose to "dish" on this blog. If I've created curiosity, it can easily be satisfied with a bit of Google searching. Let me just say that the group has maintained a gruelling tour schedule and I'm amazed that any of the original cast is still on board. Alex Sharpe is an LDS girl and when she claims she quit in order to spend more time with her family, I'm inclined to believe her. Lisa Kelly has taken one maternity break and is about to take another. She brings her family with her when touring so could be she's found a way to keep a balance and make it all work out. At any rate, there are ample reasons to leave and most likely ample reasons to stay. The fact that they lured one of Ireland's most popular musical theatre performers in Lisa Lambe into the fold belies some of the rumors of managerial problems. I like their stuff well enough that I've invested in 3 of their albums, 4 if you count Lisa Kelly's solo album. Lisa has always been my favorite of the bunch having one of the purest, sweetest voices I've ever heard, but they are all incredible vocalists, testimony to David Downe's ear for talent. In my mind the greatest loss to the group was when Orla Fallon dropped out. She has the most authentic, traditional, lilting Irish tone. The fact that she also often accompanies herself on Irish harp adds to the mystique. The albums I have besides Lisa's are: A Christmas Celebration, A New Journey and Songs From the Heart. All are wonderful and feature many memorable performances. The new show, Believe was filmed in the Fox theatre in Atlanta. Lisa Lambe is the latest addition to the group. They have only 3 vocal soloists now. Originally there were 4. I don't miss having more. It works just fine with 3 and Lisa Lambe sparkles. She could take over for Lisa Kelly in my heart if she's not careful! An interesting bit I noticed as I watched this new show is Lisa Kelly's rendition of The Water Is Wide. This song appears in it's more morbid Irish version, Carrickfergus, on her solo album and also by Orla Fallon on A New Journey. The audience reaction to  Believe in Atlanta is pretty indicative of how these girls are received all over the world. Celtic Woman has been an amazing success story, especially in the USA. There's a connection here, we seem to have a fascination with all things Irish. In my estimation Songs From the Heart was a tribute the USA with its emphasis on immigration via Ellis Island. I think the love goes both ways. Also, the love the girls have for each other appears genuine and is a definite part of the appeal. I love 'em too! Check them out on your local PBS station and/or see them live when they come to a city near you. Believe as recorded features an amazing children's chorus as well a a greater emphasis on dancing than previous shows. I'm sure the  live show will be similar and it'll be great. They'll be in Salt Lake City in April. I saw them here when Lisa Kelly was on maternity leave with Alex Sharpe filling in and they were wonderful. I'm leaning towards going again even though that particular Lisa will probably be gone again. It'll be worth it for Cloe, Lisa Lambe and Mairead if for no other reason!

Favorite Christmas Albums

During our recent family Thanksgiving gathering, my son John asked everyone to name their favorite Christmas album. When it came my turn I didn't have to think about it at all. I immediately popped out with "The Carpenter's Christmas album", meaning of course, their first one,  Christmas Portrait. Interestingly enough, it was also the favorite of both my sons. It's one of those albums that became a tradition in our home when our children were young. Back then it was a cassette tape copy. I finally bought a cd copy last year and opted for the double album that also includes their second Christmas album, An Old Fashioned Christmas. The latter was first released a year after Karen's death. The reason these albums are important is Karen's magnificent vocals. I've heard it said that she is the best female pop vocalist of all time. Pretty heavy duty claim, but one I agree with! The flaw in both albums is there is too much superfluous stuff. That's a minor flaw in the first one, and a major flaw in the second where Karen doesn't come in until the 5th track! All is forgiven however when Karen soars on songs both old and new. Their well known Merry Christmas Darling needs no introduction. Other favorites include Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, The Christmas Waltz, Sleigh Ride, The Christmas Song, Christ Is Born and from the 2nd album Santa Claus Is Coming to Town and Little Altar Boy, which although not really a Christmas song, carries a similar spirit to Ave Maria which closes the first album.

Other family favorites Bing Crosby's White Christmas album, Harry Connick Jr.'s When My Heart Finds Christmas and various and sundry compilation albums that feature such people as Perry Como, Dean Martin, Doris Day and Johnny Mathis. One of my favorite tracks from a compilation we often play is Roger Whittacker's take on Ding Dong Merrily On High.

Some of my personal favorite Christmas albums are: Messiah with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, A Christmas Celebration by Celtic Woman, Good News and Joy For Christmas Day both by Kathy Mattea, December in Vermont by Diane Zeigler, Greatest Christmas Songs by Julie Andrews and last but not least, Nancy Hanson's All Wrapped Up. Based on a recent Facebook post, you might just be able to get a swingin' deal on Nancy's album. Contact info available at:

http://www.nancyhanson.com/

Christmas albums are a mixed bag, so I'm pretty careful about the ones I pick up. My personal collection is pretty small. I guess I'd rather spend my money on music I can listen to all year long, but this gives an idea of what I like. My brother and sister will probably take issue with my not including The Beach Boy's Christmas Album, but that became my parent's family favorite long after I'd left home, so it just never took with me. That being said, who can fault Little Saint Nick?

Donald Davis

Ok, maybe this isn't exactly musical, but it was billed as a concert! last night I took the opportunity to hear (and see!) Donald Davis perform. He is probably the premier professional storyteller in the USA, at least according to people who follow such things. Having recently heard him interviewed on The Mormon Channel and becoming intrigued, I knew I had to check him out upon seeing notice of his upcoming performance while I was visiting the local library. He lived up to the hype. I found myself totally mesmerized as he spun his tales. It was very much like becoming thoroughly engrossed in a well written story. The mind takes over and I could picture myself following his uncle Frank's fox hound on a cross country adventure or becoming a fellow member of Miss Daisy's 4th grade class on tour around the world. It was fantastic. Loved every minute. This guy is an amazing talent. I haven't gone much in for story telling even though Orem has become one of the country's top story telling venues and has been for 22 years. Story tellers I've seen perform before seemed to be overblown and too dramatic for my tastes. Not so with Donald Davis. He knows how to get out of the way of the story. I couldn't have been more impressed. I will definitely be looking for him in the future. The event was a benefit for a new addition to the library to be called the Center for Story. It's a controversial project that has the community divided for and against. Let me just say that I personally like the idea and support it. After the story telling one of Donald's signature bow ties was auctioned off. The bidding started at $50 and rapidly went up from there until there were only 2 gentlemen left in the running - neighbors. When it got to $750 Donald ran back on stage to contribute the tie he was wearing last night. Both men ended up winners and the Center for Story project became $1500 richer! It blew my mind to see a tie go for that kind of money. A fitting cap to a wonderful evening!

Rating Previous Albums

I promised to go back and rate the albums I've reviewed/mentioned or alluded to in the past using a five star system. Since I don't review stuff I don't like, don't expect anything below 3 stars. I tried to arrange this by columns, but this format doesn't work well that way so I'll simply do each row as Album, Artist, Rating. Here goes:

Lorraine, Lori McKenna, 4.5
Crows, Allison Moorer, 4.0
Live At the Troubadour, James Taylor/Carole King, 4.5
Barton Hollow, The Civil Wars, 5.0
Simply Eva, Eva Cassidy, 4.5
Grace, Cheri Call, 4.0
Mountain Soul II, Patty Loveless, 4.0
Ready to Go, Bryan Sutton, 3.5
Paper Airplane, Alison Krauss & Union Station, 3.5
Suzy Bogguss, Suzy Bogguss, 3.5
Simpatico, Suzy Bogguss & Chet Atkins, 4.5
Follow Me Down, Sarah Jarosz, 4.0
Cricket's Orchestra, Meaghan Smith, 4.0
Coal, Kathy Mattea, 4.0
The Dreaming Fields, Matraca Berg, 4.0
Debra Fotheringham, Debra Fotheringham, 3.5
Father to Son, Sam Payne, 4.0
When Forever Rolls Around, The Lovell Sisters, 4.0
Time to Grow, The Lovell Sisters, 4.5
Daybreak, Sierra Hull, 4.0
Live at the Philadelphia Folk Festival, The Lovell Sisters, 3.0
Spring, Larkin Poe, 4.0
Fall, Larkin Poe, 3.5
The Harrow and the Harvest, Gillian Welch, 4.0
Trains I Missed, Balsam Range, 3.5
American Folk Songbook, Suzy Bogguss, 5.0

That about covers it. I've left some out that I may have hinted at in earlier posts, but these are the ones that I want to rate now. I will rate as I go in the future, so probably won't do a listing again. Also as a note of interest, I'm warming up to Larkin Poe more as I listen to their Fall and Spring EPs on a regular basis. The ratings reflect my change of attitude.

The weather's gloomy today, so I'm looking forward to some good Christmas concerts/music in the near future. Bring it on!

Suzy Bogguss @ Cowboy Poetry Gathering

Thursday night it was my privilege to attend Suzy Bogguss' concert at Wasatch High in Heber City, Utah as part of their annual Cowboy Poetry event. I talked a bit about Suzy in an earlier post and mentioned having seen her play several times. I've gotta tell you, this was the best Suzy concert ever! She was in fine voice but even more important was the chemistry between her and the band, which consisted of Suzy on guitar, Pat Bergeson on lead guitar/harmonica and Charlie Chadwick on string bass. I've enjoyed Pat's playing in the past. He's been her guitarist for many years and as she explained, came her way on recommendation of Chet Atkins. Pat has always played electric guitar when I've seen them before, but this time he stayed acoustic, thus the arrangements on her standard numbers weren't quite the same as before. For a good example of Pat's electric guitar work, check out Alison Krauss' album "Forget About It". He was married to her at the time and he and Jerry Douglas dominate the instrumental work on that recording. Excellent stuff! In the past he's been pretty business-like in his band work with Suzy and didn't have much to say. This time he was much more outgoing. Maybe it was the addition of Charlie that made the difference. Whatever, they were a lively group and seemed genuinely  pleased to be together. Also, Pat's delightful harmonica chops played an important role this night. My friend Ed thought Charlie was the best bass player he'd ever heard. I was wishing I'd written down the set list, but I'll give a good effort to highlight what I remember. They got off to a "flying start" with Nancy Griffith's "Outbound Plane", followed by Cheryl Wheeler's "Aces". both big hits from Suzy's radio days, but like many of her songs, not the work of Nashville regulars. I guess that's what drew me to Suzy in the first place. She's always flown a little left of center. The next number was Johnny Cash's "I Still Miss Someone". Surely not his best known song, but a good'n. It's one she included on her Chet Atkins collaboration album, "Simpatico". As an intro to the song, she talked a bit about Chet and his dry sense of humor, explaining that one of his favorite things to say while playing was "pick the Chet out of it Atkins!". You'll hear that on their album. Chet was a huge proponent of Suzy, praising her talent for hitting a note right on. He hated singers who "sneak up on a note". Now here's where my memory starts to fail me, but I'm thinking the next song was "Night Rider's Lament". It's a delightful piece, which even though written in the '70s is now a cowboy classic. So fitting for the setting that evening and the first example of Suzy's expert yodeling. The crowd really fell in love with her at that point (if they weren't already!). The audience, BTW, was a large one. A full house.  She got into songs from her new album with "Froggy Went A-Courtin'" wherein Suzy used her lately acquired instrumental talent on the Jew's Harp. Another number from the new album was "Careless Love" done in a very bluesy style. It featured Pat wailing on the harmonic and Charlie getting a blues drenched bass solo, both were received with delight by the crowd. Suzy also had Pat do a stand alone harmonica solo where he really cut loose bending notes all over the place. I had no clue he was so talented on that instrument. A word needs to be said about Charlie's bass. It folds! The neck hinges back into an opening in the body for travel purposes. This is his own invention and I presume from what was said that he markets them. Packing a bass around must be a pain. He may be on to something! Suzy did a rendition of "Wildwood Flower" that she claims to be true to the original. The protagonist in this version is no shrinking violet! According to Suzy songs morph over the years and this one as made famous by mother Maybelle Carter had the girl in the song becoming more of a victim than in the original version. Suzy likes the original much better! I certainly agreed with her Thursday night! There were a couple of omissions from the set. I wasn't surprised to not hear "Drive South" due to the venue, but was surprised after listening to the new album next day that "Get Along Little Dogies" wasn't in the set. That's a natural for a cowboy event! Maybe next year. I wrote the contact people for the event thanking them for the great night and encouraging them to bring her back again next year. This is the second year she's been there, so maybe a tradition is in the making anyway. I can hope! I wasn't surprised to hear "Someday Soon" and "Letting Go', as both are Suzy staples. I was surprised that she included "Hey Cinderella". Not exactly a cowboy classic, but certainly one of Suzy's. BTW she co-wrote that one with Matraca Berg, an artist I saw earlier this year at Sundance. It was only appropriate that she end the show yodeling her way through Patsy Montana's "I Want To Be A Cowboy's Sweetheart". That's been in her repertoire from the beginning and is always a pleaser. So fitting for Heber City! She was given a well deserved standing ovation. This wasn't your typical obligatory ovation but very spontaneous and enthusiastic. She and the band came back for an encore with a "Red River Valley" sing along. She was truly loved and deservedly so. I told people there including my neighbor Ed that they were very fortunate to have been to that concert. As I said earlier, I've never seen her in better form. She and the band were smokin'! I told Suzy the same during the meet and greet. She credited the band. Typical Suzy. Here's a shot of me talking to Suzy. Thanks to friends Dave and Nancy for the photo!

Just a bit about the new album, as the name implies, it's a collection of traditional folk songs. Suzy's applied her own arrangements and with the help of expert players, has come up with a beautiful work. I seem to be in a rut calling new albums from several of my favorite artist their best yet, but here I go again! Considering how large a catalog Suzy has, that's saying something, but I believe it's true. It shows what's possible with public domain music. it's great and it has a generous 17 tracks! I don't know how Grammys work, but this one is worthy. I hope those who make such decisions realize the same. I'm giving it 5 stars!

Adam-ondi Ahman

I was so impressed with this episode from the Mormon Channel's "History of Hymns" that I decided to scuttle my plan to rate previous music entries for now. The Hymn chosen for this broadcast is an example of pure Mormon thought entitled Adam-ondi Ahman. You can listen to the episode and get the song's history by clicking on the title of this post. This episode is a brilliantly executed thumb-nail sketch of early Mormon history from the Missouri period. It clearly demonstrates the vision and mission of the prophet Joseph Smith and how Mormons view the beginnings of the world and it's glorious destiny. It also shows clearly our understanding of Adam as our honored progenitor, his place in the coming millennial reign of Jesus Christ upon the earth and how we view with great anticipation the events to come as the earth is restored to its paradisaical condition. Although it's never mentioned, Tamilisa Miner is the narrator of History of Hymns. She is a gifted producer, actress and musician and is wonderful in this role. I also recognized Clive Romney adding to the narration. The musicians involved in this episode represent a potpourri of LDS musicians and stlyes. I'll attempt to list them all, hoping not to leave anyone out. They are in order of perormance:

Clayton Pixton
Geslison and Groberg
Small and Torres
Peter Breinholt
Merrill Jenson
Michael Dowdle
Fiddlesticks
Sarah Morgan
Roger and Melanie Hoffman
Lisa Arrington

Considering the variety of musical styles of these folks, it's amazing to me how tastefully it all comes together. The people responsible for this production are to be commended. The music is uplifting and reverent. None of the arrangements overpower the message of the hymn. I loved listening to every part of it. Of special note, if you know my tastes, is Peter Breinholt's stripped down acoustic rendering. He's never sounded better! Please set aside a half hour and give this a listen. You won't regret it!

Balsam Range

I recently added this Balsam Range album to my collection based on an Amazon.com recommendation. When you make a purchase they're set up to email you recommendations based on your preferences. I've found this a handy way to learn of new and /or unfamiliar music. While new to me, Balsam Range has been around for a few years. They have recently come to the attention of the IBMA with a nomination for emerging artist last year and 3 nominations this year for emerging artist, album of the year and song of the year with a win for song of the year for the title track of their newest album "Trains I Missed". This group is a five man band consisting of Marc Pruett (Banjo), Caleb Smith (Guitar), Darren Nicholson (Mandolin), Tim Surrett (Bass) and Buddy Melton (Fiddle). Their instrumental work can be fiery or tender and everything in between, but always first rate. Vocals are handled by all members with the exception of Marc Pruett. "Trains I Missed" features Buddy Melton doing an excellent job singing lead. One of the coolest things about Balsam Range is that while being a top flight Bluegrass band, their sound bridges both Blugrass and country resulting in music that can appeal to a much wider audience than typical Bluegrass groups such as The Del McCoury Band. Nothing against Del McCoury, I personally think he's great, but his audience isn't typical country. The title track, "Trains I Missed" is my personal favorite of all cuts. I'm a little less enthused about their Bluegrass gospel numbers, but everything else on the album is outstanding. I've decided to adopt a 5 star rating system for the albums I review and will plan on rating all formerly reviewed albums in my next installment. Rating for this album:

3.5 Stars

Here's  a live performance of "Trains I Missed":

Stephanie Mabey

I shoulda gotten onto this sooner, but it's still a good idea. Help Stephanie Mabey get her new album released. I loved her last week at the Rooftop Concert. Just click on her name at the top of this post to go to her website. Then follow the instructions. Don't you love creative ways to use the internet? This girl's on top of it!

The Lower Lights

I attended the last "Rooftop" concert of the season in Provo last night. I've attended 3 out of the 7 that were held this year. This one took place during the first real cold snap of the fall. The rain and cold probably kept people home. It was less well attended than the other 2 and was probably the smallest audience all year. It's been a great series. Hats off to C-Jane and her cohorts! I probably should have attended more, but you can't be everywhere and do everything you'd like to! The one last night featured a group known as "The Lower Lights'. I've been vaguely aware of "The Lower Lights" and had looked forward to seeing them perform for some time now. I wasn't sure about them and hoped to determine an opinion by seeing them live. Before I go on any more about "The Lower Lights" let me say that the opening acts were worth the effort to be there. First off was Stephanie Mabey. Her "Zombie" song was a huge hit. Super fun and funny. Next up was Dustin Christensen. He was promoting his new cd and his performance featured many songs from it. He has a rather country vibe and was very good. Enjoyed him a lot. So then "The Lower Lights" came on as the main attraction. Dustin and his band literally grew into "The Lower Lights" as he and his band mates are integral parts of that larger group and were engulfed as the full group came on stage. Their mission statement claims to approach hymns from a reverent as well as a celebratory angle. Seems a tough pitch to make and at least for me they didn't totally succeed in bridging the secular and the sacred. I used to watch the TV variety show called "Hootenany". It brought to the small screen many of the folk artists of the day and was based on the concept of a hootenany which is the word for a jam session in the folk world. I came away from last night thinking I'd just experienced a hootenanny. Pete Seeger would approve! It was a fun approach to gospel and spiritual tunes; less likeable when applied to hymns that to me require a more reverential approach. Not all LDS people are going to appreciate what they're doing. Personally, I have nothing against making hymns more accessible, I just didn't care for them twanging them up. Gladys Knight has been doing her best to loosen up the LDS approach to music in similar fashion. I don't disagree with the concept, I just didn't enjoy the way the "The Lower Lights' did it. Their first number, "Wade in the Water", featuring Debra Fotheringham soloing was probably the number I enjoyed best. That's unfortunate, because that means the balance of the program went down hill from there. I wanted to like Hank Williams "House of Gold" but one of the male principles went into a revivalist impression that to my mind was ill advised and ruined it for me. This group is going to be viewed as representing the LDS community, whether they like it or not, and that sort of parody won't endear us to the Protestant world. So, unfortunately, they may be annoying both LDS members and non members!  BYU TV was filming last night. I hope they edit out the parts that could be taken wrong. I'm probably not going to become a huge fan. That being said, they seem to have developed a loyal following, and I wish them well. I love many of these artists doing their own thing. I loved them less in this context but I'm an old fogey, so take my opinion with a grain of salt and make up your own mind! Check out the following video (which I actually like!) and look them up on Youtube. There are many samples of their work out there.



I was also annoyed that they didn't introduce the group. There are so many of them that it probably would have taken more time than they wanted. I therefore can't credit too many of them because I'm unfamiliar with most of them. It did seem unfair that Debra Fotheringham wasn't credited for the role she played last night. She did a number of solos and superb back up work. Also Ryan Shupe sat in with them last night and not a peep was said about him.

Gillian Welch - The Harrow & The Harvest

The "Harrow and the Harvest" is my latest cd purchase. There's been a lot of good buzz about it on the internet, so I thought I should get myself a copy. Gillian Welch is one of the most respected Americana singer/songwriters in the U.S. It's been 8 years since she's put anything out, so this was a very anticipated work and seemed a good time for me to finally buy one of her albums. I won't give a complete review since I'm still giving it a good listen, but let me say this, it's a mature work in both its restrained sonics and in its pointed lyrics. The blending of her voice and that of her long time partner David Rawlings is seamless. It's obvious they've worked our their musical relationship over the years to perfection. Their vocals as well as the playing are simply beautiful. I will make mention of one reference that interests me personally. Track 3 talks about going door to door like a Latter Day Saint. I guess we do have that reputation! At least she referred to us by the more accurate title rather than the typical "Mormon" ID. For a full review that I totally concur with let me refer you to the excellent report by Thom Jureck at AMG:

http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-harrow--the-harvest-r2219679


I've enjoyed his reviews for many years, finding myself in agreement with him more often than typical critics.

I pulled the front insert from the cd case expecting to find the usual booklet with track listing, lyrics and credits. To my surprise, the thick insert turned out to be hefty card stock without the ability to open up at all. The front and back you see as it sits in the case is what you get! Very tricky! The art work is great and I love the minimalist approach. Mirrors the musical concept of the album perfectly. This album is a very enjoyable listen. Pick it up if you're tired of the same old same old on the radio!

Sound In The Woods

I was hiking the Uintas a couple of weeks ago with my friend Cody. He'd brought along some mini self-powered speakers with the idea of playing Tab Choir music from his I-Pod during our evening meal. Unfortunately his I-Pod had lost it's charge so he was unable to follow thru with the idea, but the thought wasn't an entirely lost cause. It inspired me to find something similar for use in my own wilderness adventures, and knowing I had an up-coming outing with my grandsons Josh and Matt, I decided to be on the look-out for something like what he had. I wanted to have that capability because Josh and Matt have become fans of the Mormon Channel program "Everything Creative" with hosts Nancy Hanson and Ryan Tilby. We've listened to it on some of our previous outings by sharing ear buds, but that only allows 2 at a time to listen. I was looking for a compact, battery powered sound system that would allow all to listen at the same time. I got lucky and stumbled onto this ArtDio brand I-Pod player at Tuesday Morning the day before our scheduled outing to Washington Lake. This little unit has 2 small speakers at the ends of the tube you see pictured. It runs on 4 AAA batteries. It came with batteries, but it had been sitting so long that they'd started leaking and were no good. Hey, it only cost $7.99 so no big loss! You don't find brand new stuff at Tuesday Morning, it's an outlet for items that didn't sell well in typical retail stores, so I didn't have high expectations for the sound quality of this "boom box" and was quite pleasantly surprised by how clear and clean it plays. No bass to speak of, but that's to be expected from speakers less than 2" in diameter! So how is this post a musical musing? The programs we listened to on our camp out were both interviews with musicians, so I think it qualifies. We heard Nancy's wonderful discussion with Janice Kapp Perry and we also listened to Ryan's documentary format interview that featured Justin Cash and Jon Schmidt. These programs were both entertaining and inspiring. It gave us something very worthwhile to do in the tent before bed time. We retired to the tent earlier than you would normally do if you were camping in the summer. It gets dark and chilly pretty early this time of year! Listening to these programs added greatly to the bonding time we had out in the wilds, and it sure beat playing cards, especially since no one thought to bring any! Also, if you think I'm recommending "Everything Creative", you'd be right!

Thisa and Thata

As is our custom, Kathy and I got lunch from Macey's annual tailgate party on the day of the BYU/Utah football game. They were serving grilled New York stake which came with potato or macaroni salad, a roll with butter and a drink, all for $3.00. That's a bargain in anybody's book! We've done this several times in the past and this was the best yet. The steaks were flavorful and reasonably tender, but that's not the reason I'm writing about the Macey's party. The real reason is the band that was playing for those waiting in the long, long line (word's getting out!). The band was an oldies cover group I'd never heard before that goes by the name Flashback Brothers. They played songs from my youth and were very good. There are 5 of them and everyone is a player (or singer as it were)! They seemed to favor songs by The Zombies and Santana, at least while I was there. Their version of "Black Magic Woman" was very authentic. I'm not sure Carlos Santana played it any better! If you have a chance to hear this group play, be sure to take it. I'm going to keep them on my radar! Here's their website:

http://www.flashbackbrothers.com/

Kathy and I have also been watching a lot of the TV series Monk of late. It's not the best written show on the tube, but the premise of a phobia ridden detective is pretty appealing and Tony Shalhoub does an exceptional job acting the part. We are also particularly attracted to the quirky theme song "It's a Jungle Out There". The song is written and sung by Randy Newman. I hadn't paid attention to him before, but it turns out I've been listening to his stuff for years. He's written music for many, many movies. Once you've heard his distinctive voice, you'll realise you've heard him too. "You've Got a Friend in Me" from Toy Story is a memorable one that most people are familiar with. One of my favorite songs of all time is "I Think It's Going to Rain Today". He wrote it. Took me this long to figure it out! He's all over Youtube. Here's the Monk theme song. Pretty funny. Check it out:

Lovell Sisters Live DVD/CD

A copy of The lovell Sisters Live at the Philadelphia Folk Fest was delivered this weekend while I was off on a back packing trip to the lovely High Uinta mountains of Utah. I didn't mention this album with my earlier Lovell Sisters post thinking it no longer available, but since then I discovered it could be still ordered from Benchmark Merchandising. I'm pretty sure this is something that will soon be out of print so I'm recommending it while you can still find it. It's a dvd/cd combo so can be seen and listened to at your option. This is to my good since I'm allowed to listen to cds at work but not play dvds. If you like me missed seeing the girls while they were still a threesome this gives you an option of getting some idea of how they were in live performance. It's a fun album with a lot of covers as well as their own material. Of special note is their acapella rendering of Ralph Stanley's "Angel Band". Megan can hold her own as a soloist! I'm just getting into it, so may have more to say later, but for now let me say this was a valued purchase. I also purchased Larkin Poe's "Fall" and "Spring" cds which included live Lovell Sister mp3s of 3 interesting covers that were part of their live gig repertoire but not on the live dvd/cd. They are: "Hey Joe", "Tear Drop" and "Bleeding Heart". "Tear Drop" is a Massive Attack song while "Hey Joe" and "Bleeding Heart" were made popular by Jimi Hendrix, all interesting covers for a bluegrass group! Yes, I'm still lovin' the Lovells! Here's Benchmark's web address:

http://www.shopbenchmark.com/thelovellsisters/music.html

Sierra Hull

Sierra Hull is one of the up and comers in the bluegrass youth movement. She's actually been around for quite some time, as a genuine child prodigy she played at a very tender age with the likes of Alison Krauss and Sam Bush. During that same period she released an independent album titled "Angel Mountain". It was a purely instrumental record featuring her prodigious mandolin chops. She's currently threatening to become the first female mandolin player to win the IBMA's award as top mando player. She'll also be the youngest winner if her nomination yields a win. Not yet 20, Sierra recently released the album "Daybreak", her second on Rounder Records. I love this album. It showcases the maturity you would expect from someone much older and is an example of how her vocals have caught up with her instrumental skills, even more so than her first Rounder release, "Secrets". Sierra cut "Daybreak" and continues to tour on a limited basis while attending Berklee College of Music in Boston. She is the first bluegrass musician to be awarded the prestigious Presidential Scholarship by Berklee. I've been amazed at what great acoustic roots music is coming from the Boston area. Boston isn't the first place you think of when talking about bluegrass, but when folks like Sarah Jarosz and Crooked Still are making a huge splash in that arena, you have to take notice. Now you can add Sierra Hull to the mix. Sierra is also coming into her own as a songwriter, with the majority of the tracks  on "Daybreak" being Sierra's own. As I said, I really love this album. There isn't a clinker on the whole record. The track "Best Buy" is her first attempt at swing and is delightful. Alison Krauss was once the traditional bluegrass darling until her music got too experimental for hard core purists. Sierra has filled that vacancy. She hasn't strayed far from traditional bluegrass thus far and should be able to keep the purists happy for as long as she cares to. I can't say enough good about Sierra and this latest record. If you loved early Alison Krauss, you'll love Sierra!

Here's a pretty cool bluegrass version of an Adele tune by Sierra:

http://www.cmt.com/videos/sierra-hull/672275/someone-like-you.jhtml

Regrets and The Lovell Sisters

As I've said other times and other places, I miss more live music events than I can ever possibly attend. Knowing that it's impossible to catch everything, you'd think I'd have few regrets about missing concerts, but there have been a few in the last few years that I let get away from me that I wish I hadn't. I'll mention 3 that I'm still feeling pangs of regret over. Patty Griffin came to Kingsbury Hall last year with Buddy Miller. I had a derriere numbing experience at a previous concert at Kingsbury Hall so wasn't too keen on going back to that venue, but in reflection I wish I'd bitten the bullet and gone, perhaps with the addition of a cushion! That combination playing together is pretty rare and she is one of the premier singer/songwriters of our time. Buddy Miller suffered a heart attack shortly thereafter, so we came close to losing him! Shoulda been there! I've already mentioned James Taylor and Carole King at Energy Solutions Arena. Who knew they'd tame the horrible echo of that building! Shoulda been there also, but the one I regret most of all was a small little gig hardly anyone in the state took notice of. It was the Lovell Sisters playing at the Nature Center in Ogden the summer of '09, the only time they ever played in the state and I was just plain too lazy to make that drive. What an idiot I was! Major regret! This brings us to the main subject of this post. At the time of the Ogden gig I'd barely learned of the Lovells and it hadn't fully sunk in what a rare, wonderful chemistry they had going for them. By the end of the year I'd purchased both their cds and had become fully convinced of their amazingness. Hard to beat the combination of world class playing along with sibling harmony. As that year ended I became aware of their pending break-up which actually occurred Jan '10 when older sister Jessica decided to drop out for marriage and college. The 2 younger sisters, Rebecca and Megan, have continued as a band they call Larkin Poe. The sisters started out as classical musicians all playing both violin and piano. When the family heard Jerry Douglas' "Slide Rule" album and subsequently attended their first bluegrass festival it was all over! Jessica stayed on violin, calling it fiddle and playing as such, while Rebecca took up mandolin and Megan took to dobro. Less than a year after they went bluegrass they won Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home National Teen Talent Competition, proof that this was no ordinary family band. They were and are true prodigies. Shortly thereafter their first album, "When Forever Rolls Around" was released. It has an innocence and precociousness about it that is absolutely charming.This was in '05. In '06 Rebecca won the Merlefest mandolin contest the only teen and the only female to have ever won top spot for any instrument in that contest! Her playing is amazing. She has speed and accuracy you rarely hear. Very much like Chris Thile of "Nickel Creek". Their second album, "Time to Grow", came out in 09' showing them off at the peak of their prowess as musicians and songwriters. Interestingly most of the songs on the first album were written by then banjo player in the band, Josh Miller. Rebecca has since become the main songwriter and has really come into her own in "Larkin Poe". They've always considered their music progressive acoustic rather than pure bluegrass. For me the second album perfectly combines bluegrass elements with more contemporary leanings. It manages to walk the fine line between traditional and current sounds. I totally love it. My favorite Lovell song of all is on that album, "Take One Moment". Mmmm, mmmm! Sweet sounds! I highly recommend both albums and suspect they won't be around for too many more years, especially the first one. You're probably wondering what I think of "Larkin Poe". They have 4 EP's they've released in quick order titled for the 4 seasons, "Spring", "Summer", "Fall" and "Winter". Of the 4, I like "Spring" and "Fall" best however there are tracks on all that I like and tracks on all that I don't like. For me, they may have crossed the line I mentioned earlier at least in some cases, going a little farther afield in the direction of "progress" than I prefer. I also find some of Rebecca's current writing less accessible than her earlier efforts. I'm a simple minded guy and don't mind admitting it. If sounds and prose get too complicated, it turns me off. That being said, don't tune these girls out. In fact if you're younger than me (who isn't!) you might just like them a whole lot better than I do! Their musicianship is impeccable. I'm very interested in what the future holds for them and will be following them keenly. Youtube is loaded with examples from both iterations of the group. There are many songs on video they've never committed to cd including the Jimi Hendrix piece from Bonnaroo I've included here. Check 'em out!

Sam Payne

I attended Sam Payne and Cherie Call's recent concert at the American Fork Amphitheater and wanted to give a report on Sam since I've just lately become a fan of his work. In fact, it was just a year ago at the same venue I purchased my first Sam Payne cd, the live album titled "Father to Son" at the recommendation of a friend. Prior to that I knew of him through his contribution to the album and production called "The Ghosts of Gardner Village", Clive Romney's brain child. I loved that so much I decided I needed to look more completely into his stuff. I'd been just slightly aware of him before that as a folk singer that incorporated scatting into his work. I always thought that strange, but the more you listen to him, the more it fits. He has a jazzy side to him, so what once seemed a strange fusion becomes an interesting side to a multi-faceted artist. The more you get to know him, the more you realize how versatile he is. It's fun to watch him gig with Cherie Call. He's a great back up artist as well as a front man. Watching him accompany Cherie with his Melodica is especially interesting. That's a lung powered key board instrument you don't often see, in fact I can't recall ever seeing one played before. Melodicas are made by Hohner, the same company that makes. harmonicas. Anyway, Sam and Cherie are great together, both duetting and backing one another. I hope they put out a joint album sometime soon. They've been doing a lot of gigging together lately, so it might just happen.

The before mentioned album "Father to Son" features Sam the story teller. Many of the songs reflect his Mormon and pioneer heritage. All represent observations of life translated into story form. No one does it better than Sam. Each song is preceded by a track of patter where Sam gives the background to the song. This works well if you play the cd normally but doesn't work out if you load the album to an mp3 player and use shuffle as I do. So be warned, don't load the patter tracks to your Ipod. They don't work out of context! The whole album is great and represents both his folky and jazzy persona and while you can relate to the Mormon aspect of some of the references if that's your persuasion, you don't need to be Mormon to enjoy the album. It's really about life and the struggles we all go through as we walk this earth. My favorite song is "Baby Echo". It describes the birth of a tiny baby girl to the Squires family of the Martin handcart company of Mormon pioneers. The struggles of that group are well documented. She was born in Echo Canyon on the Mormon trail to Salt Lake City during the winter of 1856. Echo Canyon is on the present-day route I-80 takes from Utah to Wyoming. I recently travelled that canyon going to visit my daughter's family in Colorado. Sam's song was indelibly impressed on my mind as I traversed that beautiful place. Sam has a way of capturing the heart of the experiences he describes. I highly recommend this album!

Nancy Hanson

Nancy Hanson does an annual concert at the Homestead resort every summer that I always look forward to. I've been to them faithfully for several years. I nearly had to miss this one, but due to some fortunate circumstances was able to come as close to being in 2 places at once as is humanly possible. The upshot is that I was about 40 minutes late. Thankfully this concert ran a little longer than the one last week and due to Nancy and the Miners deciding to use an in the round format per The Bluebird Cafe, I didn't miss out on too much. I was afraid the Miners would be an opening act in which case my lateness would've resulted in missing their part of the performance. So thanks guys for changing things up a bit!

Here's a picture of Tamilisa and Craig Miner in action:

Tamilisa and Craig are newly-weds, bringing together  two great musical traditions. They are apparently working on starting their own tradition, laying the foundation for another Utah musical family. Keep an eye out for the Miners to become the next Osmonds! OK, they don't have any kids yet so that may be a few years off, but their contribution last night was terrific. Craig is an ubiquitous musician in the state of Utah turning up on many local recordings and projects and is best known for his spot as "Banjo Boy" in Ryan Shupe's Rubber band. Definitely one of the most in demand musicians around. He plays most anything with strings and plays it well. What an asset to have at last nights show. Their numbers were very bluegrassy as you might expect. Tamilisa even apologised for singing a lot of Alison Krauss stuff. Tamilisa is part of the bluegrass band Miles to Go where she plays mandolin, fiddle and sings. She seemed a little uncomfortable in the lead singer role last night, but was still quite good and will only improve with time. I see a lot of potential in this duo.

Nancy was her usual sweet singin' self. She has a very relaxed, easy on the ears vocal approach. To quote a friend of mine, "I could listen to her all day!". She was also assisted last night by Craig and Tamilisa. Quite a backing band! Nancy has a pretty well established repertoire, but last night layed a song on us that I hadn't heard before. I wish I knew the title, but it was about the joys of children sharing bed time with their parents, an experience every parent can relate to. It was classic Nancy Hanson, a personal story, well told, with a healthy touch of humor.  Just the sort of writing she does best! I hope this was a portent of things to come. I know she's wanting to get back into writing more extensively than has been the case for awhile. The old favorites were all there and were just as enjoyable as ever. The only thing that got in the way of it being a perfect evening was a glitch with the sound system that was partially but not totally overcome with the replacement of a 9 volt battery in one of the sound system components. I've been spoiled by the great sound that is usually the case up there. Something about that big front lawn and all the trees that makes for a sublime sonic experience. Again as is becoming the case in most of the concerts I've attended this year an encore was demanded. Nancy and friends seemed a little confused about what to sing so I shouted out "Across the Great Divide". Put them into a bit of a bind, but they came through with flying colors. A little Kate Wolf is always a good way to end a concert in my world! Thanks Nancy, Craig and Tamilisa for another great evening at the Homestead!

08/09/2011 Let me add a small addendum. Since writing the above, I've learned that the unknown song Nancy sang is titled "You and me". Sweet song! So good to hear something new from her.

Also I failed to mention that in addition to her many other talents, Tamilisa is a gifted actress. She recently played the role of Marjorie Hinckley in "Gordon B. Hinckley: A Giant Among Men" and I'm telling you, she is a dead ringer for the young Marjorie Hinckley!

Debra Fotheringham

I finally made it to the Homestead for a summer concert this year! Pretty bad after making a major point of promoting it in an earlier post! Between weather and priorities at home, it's been a long time coming. This was a tough one to not go to. It's been a long time since I've seen Debra  Fotheringham perform, so I made a point not to miss her this time. Debra  is definitely one of the premier singer/songwriters on the local scene, but before Debra  came on-stage, there was a delightful opening act, Selja Sini, a young girl from Finland. Pronounce that something like Celia. She's also a singer/songwriter. She accompanied herself on a ukulele. Amazing how popular ukulele has become of late. She did a fine job. Find her onFacebook@:

https://www.facebook.com/seljasini?sk=wall

Back to Debra . You'll notice Debra 's instrument is no wimpy little thing!

That's a pretty good sized guitar for a little girl, and believe me she plays it with authority! Her skill as a percussionist translates into her guitar playing. As I told her afterward, she "beats that thing to death!", and unlike me, she makes use of all the frets! Her playing style is unique and really sets her apart. As you may have guessed, I'm impressed. If that were all there was to admire about Debra  it would be enough, but she doesn't take a back seat as a singer either. And no, she's not one of those low voiced females I'm known for liking. Her style is also more jazz influenced than most of my favorites. Her frenetic guitar playing suites her vocals well. She has 2 albums out. One has 10 tracks and the other is a 6 track EP. As far as I could tell, she covered the majority of both albums. There wasn't a bad tune in the set list. Memorable to me were: Across Oceans, Summer Rain and You are Truth. I love how You are Truth transitions into Bossa Nova and Portuguese. The only cover performed was pretty unique for her, Willy Nelson's Crazy. That song was a Patsy Cline signature and Debra  wisely chose to play her own arrangement rather than copy either of the legends aforementioned. There was a good crowd who demanded Debra come back for more at the end of her set. She hadn't planned an encore, but managed to pull 2 songs out of the hat. The last played was Fire, which to me is her best song. I told her as much after the show when I had her sign a copy of the EP for me. She doesn't like to perform it because she finds it hard to get the words right. Funny thing for the songs author to say, don't you think? It is the most frenetic of all her songs with words, notes and chords coming at a 90 miles per hour pace so maybe she can be forgiven for not liking to play it, but I'm so glad she did! Thanks Debra  and Selja for a great night!

BTW, the Jed Wells photos on the EP are outstanding!

Lori McKenna at Sundance

This has been "The Summer of My Dreams" as far as concerts go. Up to this point.... Last night I had the privilege to experience one of my favorite all time singer/songwriters in concert, Lori McKenna. I did so in the company of my VERY favorite singer/songwriter Nancy Hanson. She and husband Dave had also come to this last Bluebird concert of the season and joined me and daughter Karen for the evening. Good thing, because something's come up that will prevent me from attending Nancy's Homestead concert for the first time in many years. Being in her company last night will have to suffice! Lori appeared with 2 of Nashvilles finest songwriters Tom Douglas and Allen Shamblin. It was an even better attended concert than the one 2 weeks ago with Matraca Berg, Gretchen Peters and Marshall Chapman. In fact a new attendance record was set with over 720 people on hand. The 2 guys have been noted Nashville writers for many years and have written for all the big country stars. Most of their songs were unfamiliar to me because I choose to ignore the radio as much as possible. I did recognize Martina McBride's hit Love's the Only House when Tom sang it early in the performance and Allen's He Walked On Water, recorded by Randy Travis. Between those and The House That Built Me I was pretty much lost by the songs the guys sang. I really enjoyed their stuff and wasn't at all upset to not be familiar with it. Plenty of others were, including Karen who knew most of them and even sang along. The House That Built Me was co-written by both of the guys and was in fact conceived the last time they were at Sundance several years ago. I was also surprised to learn that Allen had written Bonnie Raitt's I Can't Make You Love Me. That's one I'm definitely familiar with! Lori commented on how she knew going into this that the guy's stuff would get much recognition from the audience while she would be doing stuff that was largely unfamiliar. However, some of the audience members let her know they'd come to hear her! I would number myself among them even though I didn't make it publicly known, Lori's stuff was quite familiar to me. There were 2 new songs she sang, but the rest I knew. As happened 2 weeks ago, the audience demanded an encore and the performers didn't disappoint. They came back and Lori did a Tom Petty cover. Another song unfamiliar to me, but very nice! Nancy asked afterward if the concert met my expectations. The answer to that question is a little clearer to me today than it was last night. I was slightly disappointed by Lori's set list. I was hoping to hear The Luxury of Knowing, If He Tried and Lorraine from the new album and Stealing Kisses from Bitter Town.. All were missing. On the other hand she did sing one of my favorites from the new album, Sweet Disposition and gave a story about it that was pretty cool. She told how she performed it shortly after writing it and a friend of her deceased mother's came up and told how her mother had described her as having a "sweet disposition" in her high school year book.Interesting "coincidence"! Other than the set list, the rest of the concert exceeded my expectations, so I guess if you balance it out, I would have to say the concert did exceed my expectations! The sound last night was superb. Lori never sounded better. It seemed 2 weeks ago when Matraca Berg got vocally loud the sound system got a bit distorted. Nothing of the kind happened last night and I don't think Lori's volume was any less than Matraca's! It was a sweet experience and I did manage to wrangle an autograph from Lori who was very swamped by admirers afterwards. There was a songwriters camp at Sundance all this past week and the participants were all over Lori. One even had her sign a guitar! All in all, a most satisfying night! I'll be most interested to see what happens with this series next year.

The Dreaming Fields

Can you stand a little more Matraca Berg? I promise to move on with my next post, but I did say I'd review the new album, so here goes! I purchased this cd on line so I could take a listen before I saw Matraca perform. I really love this album. It was a long time coming, 13 years to be exact! Believe me, it was worth the wait. I told Matraca at Sundance that I thought it was the best thing she'd done. She agreed! It really covers a lot of territory subject wise, so maybe it's not a tight package thematically, but it's really a good sampling of Matraca's art. She can be fun, serious and everything in between. It starts off with a song I can only assume resulted from all the hanging around she does with Gretchen Peters. The title is If I Had Wings and is Matraca's take on the subject of spouse abuse. It's a pretty song. Subtle. Not the belt in the head of Gretchen's Independence Day, but succeeds in conveying the same message. Nice lead off track. The next is probably the most commercial song, You and Tequila which is doing well for Kenny Chesney and was also recorded by Deana Carter who co-wrote  it. Nice take on life in California. The line in the bridge "It's always your favorite sins that do you in" really hits the mark! Racing the Angels is a beautiful song complete with harmonies from her Wine Women and Song pals Gretchen Peters and Suzy Bogguss. They also join her on the anti-war South of Heaven. Other tracks I particularly enjoy are: The Dreaming Fields, Oh Cumberland and the oh so humorous Your Husband's Cheating On Us. I've had a fun time listening to this album and continue to play it regularly at work. It can be enjoyed on many levels so it works well in the background at work but is also a mental challenge when you take the time to listen intently. Good job Matraca. you knocked this one out of the park!

Here's Kenny Chesney doing You and Tequila with Grace Potter:

 Here's a vid of the Wine Women and Song girls doing You and Tequila:

Sundance

I love an outdoor concert in the mountains like last night's Bluebird concert at Sundance with Gretchen Peters, Matraca Berg and Marshall Chapman. It was a perfect night. Comfortable temperature with the threat of a shower that never materialized. I went mainly to see Matraca Berg, but the others were pretty awesome too! Matraca sang 3 of the songs from her new album. They were: Your Husband's Cheating On Us, Oh Cumberland and the title track The Dreaming Fields. Thank goodness her compatriots talked her into performing the latter. She thought it might be too much of a downer. How wrong she was! The audience loved it. A significant omission was You and Tequilla which is climbing the charts for Kenny Chesney. His version with Grace Potter is outstanding, but I'm kinda taken by Matraca's. Love that low voice! She and Gretchen sang a song they co-wrote which I believe they called Nashville Girls. It was a tribute to Tammy Wynette and was a hoot. Too bad it's never been released. Matraca also sang a song Martina McBride recorded called Cry On the Shoulder of the Road from Martina's Wild Angels album. I wasn't aware that was one of Matraca's, but she's written so many great songs for so many people I'm not surprised to have overlooked it.. Another high point of the evening, not even a musical one, was when Marshall Chapman read en excerpt from her book, They Came to Nashville. It was about interviewing Willie Nelson. I guess it's not easy to get to meet him even for a Nashville regular like her. It was an interesting tale. I wouldn't mind reading the book. As you might guess, it's about singers/songwriters in Nashville.This was the most well received of the Bluebird concerts I've attended. The concert ended much too soon and the audience showed their approval with a standing ovation.The performers came back for an encore even though the house lights had come on and some people had already left. I loved it! I got a chance to meet Matraca afterwards for an autograph. She's as nice in person as she appears to be on stage. Great evening!

Kathy Mattea

I've been writing this blog since February and haven't written about Kathy Mattea yet. To anyone who knows me, that's about the most impossible thing to imagine!  I've been a fan of Kathy for many years, going back to when country wasn't cool in my world. Somehow she managed to break thru my prejudice. Pretty stupid prejudice when you consider how open to diversity country was back then. I heard her song Time Passes By and was gone. Went out and bought the cassette version of the album of the same name and played it to death. I drove my family nuts playing From a Distance over and over again so I could finger pick along (Bette Midler eat your heart out!). I was re-aquainted with Kathy after acquiring a cd player for my commuter car a number of years ago and checking out all her stuff from the Orem public library. Turns out one of the librarians, Sue Phelps, is Kathy's fan club president, so as you can imagine the library's collection of KM albums is pretty complete! I became an official fan and have followed Kathy closely since. Kathy's had 2 careers, one as a country star on a major label and one as an independent Americana artist. Like many another big star she's been privileged to have a second career out of the lime light doing the kind of music she has passion for without having to please record execs. She really started to bend her career away from commercial country with the release of the Time Passes By album with it's many Celtic influences. That just might explain my original fascination with that work. It came about as a result of her making acquaintance with Scottish folkie Dougie MacClean. Kathy has been socially active most of her career. Her latest cause is opposing mountain top removal mining, a method of coal mining that's destroying the beauty of the Appalachian range, poisoning the streams and displacing people from their homes. It's pretty appalling and is a cause I can agree with. From that came the impetus for her latest album titled simply Coal. Coal is a wonderful collection of coal mining songs and at least to me represents the most country album of her entire career. I'm sure the recording industry would disagree, but to me this kind of music represents the heart of true country, harkening back to Jimmy Rodgers and the Carter family. This album garnered  a Grammy nomination, her first in many years. It lost out to Pete Seeger's At 89. Too bad for bad timing and going up against a legend. Coal is the superior album! All tracks are good, but my favorites are:

The L&N Don't Stop Here Anymore
Red-Winged Blackbird
Green Rolling Hills
Coal Tattoo

Green Rolling Hills was written by Utah Phillips. I find it ironic that a Westerner could capture the spirit of West Virginia so effectively. A fine tune!

Kathy's rendition of You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive is also very good, but I must give Patty Loveless credit for the definitive version.

As you might surmise from the photo, Mary Stuart produced Coal and was a tremendous help and support for Kathy doing something with such a rootsy flavor. I was hesitant to review this album just now, expecting something new from Kathy any time now. Seems like she's over due. Anyway, this album is so relevant, it needed comment and if she comes up with a new record any time soon I'll have more grist for the mill!

Happy listening and have a great 4th!

A Few Odds and Ends

Searching for Lori McKenna news, I ran across an article claiming to reveal the story behind the song The Luxury of Knowing. There may be some question as to whether the article tells the whole story, but there are some pretty interesting facts coming out of it. Perhaps the most important news is that the song is now available for sale on Itunes as a single or as part of Keith Urban's digital Get Closer album. Prior to this release it was only available as a bonus track on the deluxe cd from Target. Not sure how these bone-headed marketing decisions happen, but at least someone realised that this might be the best track on the album (my opinion!). Lori's thoughts about Keith Urban's playing are interesting and the part Faith Hill played in getting Keith to pick up the song is also pretty cool. Nice to see that friendship still going strong. Lori also has some interesting thoughts on her approach to songwriting. Check out the article at:

http://www.theboot.com/2011/06/03/keith-urban-the-luxury-of-knowing-lyrics/

In that same search I came across another singer from the Boston area that I really like. Her name is Amy Black and she's ANOTHER low voiced female Americana artist. Check out this vid:

Love that vibe! Her website is at:

http://amyblack.com/

This week I had 4 cds arrive from Amazon. They are:
Follow Me Down - Sarah Jarosz
Daybreak - Sierra Hull
The Dreaming Fields - Matraca Berg
Judy Collins 3 & 4 - Judy Collins

As previously reported on Sarah Jarosz, her new album is fantastic! I haven't changed my opinion. The others will provide opportunity for future posts. The Judy Collins is actually 2 cds for the price of 1 and although a moldy oldy provides for some interesting listening.

I got tickets for both Matraca Berg and Lori McKenna at Sundance in July. Looking forward to both performances with anticipation.

I really enjoyed my daughter's birthday party last night, but in doing so I missed seeing Brooke White perform locally. That's twice now! Hoping to catch up to her sometime. That's all for now. Happy listening!

Bryndle

One of the most influential yet little known groups in America was Bryndle. This group consisted of 4 singer/songwiters from California: Kenny Edwards, Karla Bonoff, Andrew Gold and Wendy Waldman. They originally formed in the late '60s and have broken up and re-united at least twice since. Kenny Edwards  passed away in an untimely manner last year and now sadly with the passing of Andrew Gold earlier this month the last hopes of another reunion have been totally dashed. The 2 girls are still going strong and are among my favorite solo artists. To get a better handle on the band's history and influence than I could ever convey, please read Wendy's moving tribute at:

http://www.wendywaldman.com/andrew.html

The title link at the head of this post will also take you to a photo tribute to the guys and if you continue on to their website you'll find a number of free downloads so you can enjoy both their collective and solo efforts. Click on the SOUND CLIPS entry. Happy listening!

Tamara Bailie

Before I begin my latest subject, let me just say a few more words about Meaghan Smith. I picked up her cd "The Cricket's Orchestra" at the concert and have been playing it heavily. It's everything I had hoped for.  Love her vocals. Love her writing. Love the retro vibe. Buy it!

This leads right into my next subject. At that Roof Top Concert I had the good fortune of sitting in the proximity of Tammy Bailey. I'd met Tammy last year at the Nancy Hanson Homestead concert. I'd seen her on Facebook but was unaware that she is a songwriter until Nancy sang one of her songs that night. Sounded pretty good and I told her so after the concert. She told me she had an album coming out in December and would send me a copy. I'd all but forgotten about it but seeing her at the concert last Friday reminded me of her promise. I asked if she was still working on her album.She apologised for not remembering to send me a copy, indicating that she had finished it in December and promised she'd send me one ASAP. I had no idea how serious she is about song writing. Turns out she is very serious! Check the link per the title of this post and you'll see that this album, "Remembering How to Be", is her second outing. She was as good as her word. She got it in the mail Saturday and I received it Monday. I've been playing it in rotation with "The Cricket's Orchestra" since then. So let me give you my thought's on Tammy's album. First off let me say that she makes no claim to being a pro singer. Don't expect her to be performing at the Met any time soon! That's not what she's about. She's all about the song writing and if you consider the content to be what's important, you'll find with me, that her vocals are honest, straight forward, pure and heartfelt. She's not a powerhouse, but she's in tune and sings from the heart. I personally think she could be a Bluegrass girl with a high lonesome sound if she chose to take that route and indeed some of the tracks on this album have a little Bluegrass vibe going on. Tammy's blessed with friends in the local music business who contribute to this album including Ryan Tilby, Sam Payne and Nancy Hanson. Not too surprising that the quality is top notch with those folks involved. Ryan Tilby's contribution is of particular note. If I understand correctly, he was a one man band and also provided the recording facility. Might be part of the reason you hear a little Bluegrass in here as he comes from that background. This album is like opening up Tammy's journal and taking a peek. As a song writer she's not too much into telling stories. These songs are for the most part snapshots of her thoughts, impressions, feelings, inspirations and observations about life. Before I give my impressions of  some of the tracks, let me say that this is the kind of stuff that's subject to interpretation and what I get out of it could be quite different from what you'd get out of it or what the author may have intended. That's the fun of it! Some of my favorite tracks are numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9 and 11. Track 1 is a challenge to let what's inside find it's way out. Certainly reflective of Tammy. Nice catchy chorus. Track 2 has something to say about revealing who you are and still being accepted. Nice harmony by NH. Track 3 talks to me about accepting what life throws at you and enjoying the ride. Nice bit of Sam Payne scatting! Track 4 is summed up by it's title, Fly Away, as that's what we're learning to do in life. I think the line "the things that frighten and sustain us are the same" is particularly profound. I also think Tammy's vocals are very nice on this track. Track 5 finds justification for "holding on" making good use of a cool sounding call and response. Track 6 may be the catchiest tune and certainly is good advice, say yes and be strong! Track 9 is my favorite. Maybe it's the fun chorus, but again it's a song about good choices and their consequences. I think I like 11 for its country flavor and the fact that it DOES tell a story. I guess when you get down to it, most of the music I favor tells a story. It's challenging to listen to an album like this, but when I take the time to kick back and do some thinking it's quite enjoyable. Good job Tammy! Thanks for sharing.