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.

A Couple of Thoughts About Taylor Swift

 
I ran a across this article (thanks Lori McKenna!) about Taylor Swift that reinforced what I already thought of the girl. No I'm not a fan of her music, but I can't help being a fan of her. Read the article and see if you don't agree with me that this is someone to admire. Taylor is the American dream personified. Grit, determination, guts, stick-to-it-iveness, gumption, passion. I'd use a thesaurus, but it would be a waste of time because there aren't enough superlatives to describe her work ethic. Can you imagine an 11 year old trying to convince the suits on music row to sign her to a record deal? Unreal!!!

Check out the article at:
http://www.americansongwriter.com/2011/05/taylor-swift-the-garden-in-the-machine/

And she's also devoted to her fans to the max. I read a story of how she tracked down a young girl she'd spotted from her car wearing one of her t-shirts while driving in Nashville, found her and made her day by taking time to visit with her. The girl and her mom had come from out of state just to be in the same town with Taylor and drink in the atmosphere. Had no idea they'd actually meet her. They were dumbfounded!

Fictionist

I recently became aware of some great new outdoor concerts called the Rooftop Concert Series. It's being held in down town Provo every first Friday night starting in May (last night) thru October. The thing that caught my eye was that they'd scheduled a great singer I recently became aware of (thanks Nancy Hanson!). Her name is Meaghan Smith and she hails from London, Ontario, Canada. Meaghan is scheduled to perform in June. Meaghan recently performed a couple of times with Lilith Fair and was featured on the sound track to "500 Days of Summer". She's a wonderful new LDS artist. I thought I'd check out the venue last night so I'd know the lay of the land in preparation for next month. I wasn't disappointed. The line up last night included 3 different artists. The openier to the opening was a girl with guitar named Emily Brown. She was followed by the true opener, Paul Jacobsen and the Madison Arm. The main event was Fictionist, a band that's been getting a lot of media attention locally as well as nationally. They are currently in the running for a contest to be on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine which will also net them a recording contract if they win. If You'll click the header, it will take you to their website where you can vote for them by picking on the five stars. Let me say this about Fictionist, while not being in a genre I regularly follow, they are Stinkin' Good!!! I highly endorse helping them win the contest.

Getting back to the Rooftop Concerts, don't be put off by the fact that their target audience is primarily college students and other musicians. There were plenty of middle aged folks there last night and I'm willing to bet I wasn't the oldest geezer among them! This is a great way to find out what's happening on the local music scene and to be exposed to some great stuff. Check out their line up. There's music there for most anyone except maybe classical lovers.I'm not sure how they're managing to get such a great schedule without charging admission, but that's the deal. Check it out!
 
http://www.rooftopconcertseries.com/