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!