Meaghan Smith

Lovely Meaghan Smith graced the Rooftop Concert Series last night in Provo and played to a large appreciative crowd. She has a timeless style which was born out by the demographic of the audience. All age groups were well represented including a goodly number of (Hack, Kaff!) seniors such as myself. Meaghan came all the way from Halifax, Nova Scotia to play Utah. The only band she brought along was husband Jason Mingo on lead guitar. Very convenient! She added to that 3 locals for an amazingly good pick-up band. According to her they'd only just gotten together that morning. I really don't get musicianship of that level. They were great! I can't comprehend that! I failed to jot down their names, so won't attempt to credit tham, but they're well known locals.Meaghan played a number of tunes from her "Cricket's Orchestra" album that's out on the Warner Bros. label, plus some covers. The only down side to the whole evening was due to a problem with a weird instrument called an Omnichord. Due to its malfunction she was unable to finish the program with the snappy Here Comes Your Man from the 500 Days of Summer sound track and instead ended with an unfamiliar ballad and encored with Moon River. This was a fine way to end her program for us old geezers, but I suspect the college kids, of whom there were many, would have preferred something up tempo. Really this is minor sour grapes. She is a marvelous vocalist and has a tremendous future ahead of her. I told her she reminded me of Doris Day when she signed a cd for me. She took that as a compliment injecting that "She's my favorite"! Opening for Meaghan were Ryan Innes and Mindy Gledhill. Both are really good local singers.I had a preference for the bluesy vibe of Ryan. Must remember to check him out more thoroughly. I had a nice visit with him afterward and was impressed with his passion for his art. It was another great Roof Top Concert. The folks in charge are off to a great start.Next month has Sarah Sample coming. I've checked her stuff out a bit. She'll be great! Check out Meaghan's Facebook page for some cool photos from last night including a shot out into the audience.

Summer Concerts

 
It's the summer outdoor concert season. Hooray! There are a number of great opportunities in my back yard. I mentioned the Rooftop Concert Series in a previous post. Looking forward to Meaghan Smith there in a week. I'll be sure to report on how that goes. My motive for posting today is to share the schedule of the Homestead Summer Concerts. These are held annually on the spacious front lawn of the Homestead Resort in Midway, Utah. I've been a faithful attender for many years, getting up to see several of my favorite local artists each season. There are several things that make it so appealing. Midway is in Heber valley, high enough that it's a pleasant escape from the heat of the Wasatch front. The setting is beautiful and peaceful. For whatever reason, the acoustics are generally wonderful. Perhaps the trees and other vegetation prevent echoes. I'm no expert, but it's always sounded good to me, except for the odd hardware glitch (rarely happens!). Of course, my favorite singer in the world performs there on a regular basis, that's Nancy Hanson, pictured at the top of this post. She's always at her best there and can be counted on to put on a great show! This year she's sharing the stage with Craig and Tamilisa Miner, two of Utah's finest acoustic musicians. I can hardly wait! I intend to check out some of the others as well. There are a number on the schedule that are unfamiliar to me, so I hope I can add some new finds to my list of local favorites. These concerts are free. The Homestead folks must have finally figured out that the majority of the attendees aren't their guests, but are fans of the particular artists. They're offing dinner on the lawn this year before and during the concerts. Smart on their part. There are many more summer concerts in Utah. Some free and others for a nominal fee. I'll report on my concert going activities this year and continue to encourage the support of local singers everywhere. Eva Cassidy toiled in obscurity most of here life and really only caught on with the D.C. area locals during her last years. Makes you wonder how many other great singers are out there waiting to be discovered!

Thanks to JaNae Kotter for posting the Homestead schedule on Facebook from which I made this copy. You will note she's one of the awesome singers this year!

May 28: CrosStrung

June 4: Cori Connors
June 11: Joshua Creek
June 18: Forever Blue
June 25: Guys Night Out
July 2: Joey Dempster
July 9: Cherie Call/Sam Payne
July 16: d. Scott Williams and The Ones
July 23: Drew and Lacey Williams
July 30: Debra Fotheringham
August 6: Nancy Hanson, Craig & Tamilisa Miner
August 13: JaNae Kotter
August 20: Duolusions
August 27: Julie Hill
September 3: Mark Geslison and Geoff Groeberg

Sarah Jarosz

I found out about Sarah Jarosz about the time her first album came out. It happened in a pretty unusual way. I was perusing the Collings guitar website checking out the artists that use their instruments and there she was playing one of their guitars! I had never heard of her before, so I Googled her name, found her website and checked out her stuff. I was blown away! Great rootsy vocals, and multi instrumental work that was mind boggling! All this from a girl about the same age as Taylor Swift. Now there was a teenager that didn't play to her age group, but instead took the less travelled route of Bluegrass, rootsy traditional type material! I was really impressed and immediately purchased her first album Song Up In Her Head. I loved it and it became a regular in my rotation of cds at work. (I'm blessed to be able to listen to music at work as long as it's on commercial cd and I don't intrude on my neighbors.) Just yesterday I found out about her new album, Follow Me Down, being featured on the Performing Songwriter website and took the opportunity to listen to it. What a great service they offer in allowing full albums to be previewed in total. This cd is obviously one I need to pick up. No sophomore slump here, in fact I like it even better than her first one and boy did she get a fantastic supporting cast! You'll find Jerry Douglas and Stuart Duncan all over this one. There's also Shawn Colvin, Chris Thile, Bela Fleck and Vince Gill to name a few! But, having big name musicians doesn't necessarily make a great album. This one is really all Sarah's genius and talent. The thing I always worry about when world class musicians start "progressing" in their career is that they'll head off into the ozone and leave we mere mortals scratching our heads wondering what's up. Not to worry here. While this is a progression beyond her first effort, it still maintains the good taste and accessibility of the first record.  She appears to be an artist with tremendous talent and tremendous taste, a rare combination. Good Stuff! Check it out! Here's a link to Performing Songwriter:

http://performingsongwriter.com/

On a different note, I've been less than enthused with American Idol this year. Seems like the voters have been systematically eliminating the most interesting singers. Tonight was no exception with the voting off of Haley. I was starting to warm up to her. Depending on where she goes with her career, I might actually acquire some of her stuff. She does have interesting vocals. No one to blame but myself for the outcome as I've avoided voting the whole season. No Crystal Bowersox to capture my interest this year. Very unusual ending up with 2 country kids. Kinda sleepy, but I'm betting they'll both make it in their genre. Scotty is an especially sure thing. Can't have too many Randy Travis, Josh Turner types! He's my pick to win it all.