First announcement about performers at the Americana Music Festival in September in Nashville (we're going!!!)

Americana Music Festival announces performances by Peter Case and The Black Lillies
Submission Deadline tomorrow April 30th


The Americana Music Association, working in partnership with Sonicbids, has selected the first two showcase artists for the upcoming Americana Music Festival to be held September 8-11, 2010 in Nashville, TN. Applications are being accepted and must be postmarked by Friday, April 30, 2010. You may submit your materials via Sonicbids or directly to the AMA office via mail. Information on the submission process and access to the application form may be found here.

Artists confirmed to date displaying the genre's breadth and vibrancy now include Peter Case and the Black Lillies. More confirmed artists will be announced in the weeks ahead.



Peter Case
For those who’ve followed the story so far, you know that Case left his upstate New York home in 1974 to travel west to California, As Far As You Can Get Without A Passport, which is also the name of the book about his reminiscences about that trip. Striking up his acoustic guitar as a street singer in San Francisco, Case made his way to Los Angeles began to unravel the rock and roll mystery™. As a member of the Nerves, he released one of the first seven-inch singles in the punk and new wave era and set out all across the U.S.A. as an opening act for the Ramones in 1977. Following that band’s end, Peter and Paul formed the Breakaways, till finally Peter launched the Plimsouls and scored a hit in the ‘80s with “A Million Miles Away.” Case’s former bands continue to enjoy rediscovery by rock’s new generations, but it his solo career that his proven to be most enduring, earning him accolades and die hard fans. As a rocker turned acoustic player, Case opened a door through which others have walked ever since 1986 when his self-titled T-Bone Burnett-produced solo album earned him year end honors and his first Grammy nod. Set to a tribal-folk percussive blend of blues, country and rock’n’roll, its essences pour through everything he’s recorded since, from “Poor Old Tom” and “Two Angels” to “Beyond the Blues” and “Blue Distance.” His songs are continually revived by other artists (a three-disc set was recorded in tribute to him) and used effectively in contemporary film and television (most recently, on the hit HBO series True Blood). Over two decades he’s recorded ten solo albums--from the highly acclaimed and influential the man with the Blue post-modern fragmented neo-traditionalist Guitar, to 2007’s Grammy-nominated Yep Roc release, Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John. His 2001 Grammy nominated effort as a producer of Avalon Blues, a tribute to the music of his country blues hero, Mississippi John Hurt featured contributions by Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams and Beck.
Find more on Peter Case here.

The Black Lillies
Born in the rumbling cab of a stone truck and aged in the oak of Tennessee’s smoky night haunts, The Black Lillies have come to the forefront of the Americana scene in little more than a year. Founded by multi instrumentalist and vocalist Cruz Contreras (co-founder of Robinella and the CCstringband), The Black Lillies have created their own unique brand of country, roots, rock and blues via Appalachia. The group, formed in 2008, also includes bassist Taylor Coker, electric guitar and pedal steel whiz Tom Pryor (the everybodyfields), and drummer Jamie Cook (the everybodyfields). Trisha Gene Brady rounds out the lineup with Southern charm and smoky vocals.
In April 2009, The Black Lillies released Whiskey Angel, their debut recording. The album was recorded live in Cruz’s living room by Sparklehorse drummer Scott Minor, and features Billy Contreras on fiddle. The album received rave reviews and appeared on multiple “Best of 2009” lists across the country.
The Black Lillies toured extensively throughout the past year, with highlights including appearances at the Bonnaroo Music + Arts Festival, Bristol’s Rhythm & Roots Reunion, the live radio broadcasts of WDVX’s Tennessee Shines: Live from the Bijou Theatre and WSM’s Music City Roots: Live from the Loveless Café Barn, and a six-week national tour that kicked off in front of a packed house at the legendary Ryman Auditorium, the “Mother Church of Country Music.” They are scheduled to play a number of festivals this summer, including Pagosa Folk n’ Bluegrass, Rhythm n’ Blooms, Pickathon, the Americana Music Association Festival & Conference, and Bristol Rhythm n’ Roots Reunion.
The Black Lillies have developed their own style of Americana music in true East Tennessee fashion. They may not fit any industry norm, but where they’re from, that’s a good thing.
Find more on the Black Lillies here.

Follow up report about Mary Chapin Carpenter award event

MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER HONORED WITH FREE SPEECH IN MUSIC AWARD,
CEREMONY IN NATION'S CAPITAL PLAYS TO CAPACITY CROWD


April 28, 2010. Washington, DC: Mary Chapin Carpenter was honored by the Americana Music Association and the Newseum's First Amendment Center Tuesday night with the "Spirit of Americana Free Speech" award, presented to artists who use freedom of expression through music to raise awareness and build understanding. The setting for the sold-out event was the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Theater in the Newseum, a museum that chronicles history through news coverage.

Carpenter was honored for "a remarkable body of work that engages heart, head and soul, and which will resonate for a very long time to come" according to Ken Paulson, president of the First Amendment Center and Newseum.

The "Freedom Sings" program featured an interview with Carpenter and stirring performances by Rodney Crowell. Judy Collins and Eric Brace of "Last Train Home." Crowell is a current member of the Americana Music Associations Board of Directors and previously has been honored by the organization with its Lifetime Achievement in Songwriting Award. Collins, who was honored with the "Spirit of Americana" award in 2005, presented the crystal award to Carpenter.

"What an incredible evening" commented Jed Hilly, Executive Director of the Americana Music Association, "it was more than a concert, it was a celebration of our greatest freedom, but also of art and artistry - you could hear a pin drop in the room."

The event also celebrated the release of her new album, "The Age of Miracles", released Tuesday on Rounder Records.

About the Organizations
The Americana Music Association is a professional non-profit trade organization whose mission is to promote awareness, provide a forum, and advocate for the creative and economic vitality of the Americana music genre. The Association produces a weekly radio chart and events throughout the year including the annual Americana Music Festival and Conference which will take place September 8-11, 2010 in Nashville, TN. Americana Music Festival and Conference Registrations are now available by calling the Americana Music Association office at (615) 386-6936 or through the store at www.americanamusic.org.

The First Amendment Center, with offices at the Newseum and Vanderbilt University, works to build support for First Amendment freedoms through education, information and entertainment. www.firstamendmentcenter.org

The Newseum – a 250,000-square-foot museum of news – offers visitors an experience that blends five centuries of news history with up-to-the-second technology and hands-on exhibits. Its nonpartisan mission is to champion the First Amendment as the cornerstone of democracy. For more information on the Newseum go to www.newseum.com

www.brokenheartsanddirtywindows.com

This is a new website specifically for the new tribute CD of John Prine songs by various artists.

Americana Music Best in Nashville

Southern Living Magazine Proclaims
Americana Best Music in Nashville
Americana Music Festival is # 1 in Music City

April 26, 2010: Nashville, TN. The Americana Music Festival is featured in the May issue of Southern Living magazine as the Best Music Festival in Nashville. The issue, which is on newsstands now, includes an insider’s guide to music capitals Austin and Nashville exploring "Which City Has Better Music Chops?"

According to Southern Living, “The big secret is that the best music in Nashville isn’t country – It’s Americana” and the best festival in Music City is the Americana Music Festival in September. Kind praise for the fledgling not for profit Americana Music Association, whose mission is to advocate for the flourishing Americana music community.

The Americana Music Festival is the nighttime component of the Americana Music Association’s Festival and Conference. Critically acclaimed for promoting “singers who can sing, players who can play and writers who can write” (Wall Street Journal). The four day confab has grown in size and stature over the years gathering an international audience, while maintaining the feel of small and intimate event. The capstone of Americanafest is the Honors & Awards show at the historic Ryman Auditorium which Emmylou Harris recently described as “the shining star of Nashville and music everywhere.”

Southern Living is one of the largest lifestyle magazines in the United States boasting a readership of approximately 16 million, primarily in the Southern region, but also reaches the hundreds of thousands in the Northeast and Midwest.

For More Information about the Americana Music Association:
Registrations and ticket information visit www.americanamusic.org or call (615) 386-6936
Media Contact: Jayne Rogovin; Jrogovin@mac.com (615) 403-2393

Hank Williams and Americana Music were hopping last night

At our 4th annual Hank Williams Tribute, the music was solid through all four acts: Lisa and Jerry Queen, and their Neon Moon Band got things off to a great start. The Kirklands, Matt, Will and Ben came up next and played some good Hank tunes, and included a Cajun number. Steve Peck had a strong set; strong on Hank Junior, and lively throughout. Jonny Nutter finished things up (to a disappointing lingering crowd) but did some very energetic Hank III songs, interspersed with some Hank Sr. He would have played all night if we'd let him. Thanks to these enthusiastic musicians for contributing to our benefit, and putting on a great overall show. The event, including the Cajun Cookoff, was deemed a smashing success!

Songwriter Night tonight in Marietta OH

Todd Burge is hosting another songwriter night tonight at the Galley in Marietta. A full line up of local songwriters is on tap. check out his website for the events at: www.songwriternight.com for the full scoop. Todd's got some other interesting live music events organized around the state of West Virginia over the next several months. Hunt down his facebook, myspace, blogs, etc.

Americana Music Association and Free Speech in Music - good for them!!!

April 23, 2010, Nashville, TN: The Americana Music Association announced today a special on-line Auction to promote its efforts, and those of the First Amendment Center, in support of Free Speech in Music. Some of the items featured in the auction included handwritten lyrics from Mary Chapin Carpenter and Charlie Daniels, Autographed posters from Dwight Yoakam and Steely Dan; an autographed banjo signed by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and a guitar on which Michael Martin Murphey wrote the lyrics of him classic “Wildfire.” To View the items visit www.americanamusicauction.com.

The two not for profit organizations have joined forces to produce “Freedom Sings,” an evening celebrating the power of free speech in music and honoring the career of Mary Chapin Carpenter. The event will take place on Tuesday, April 27 at the Newseum in downtown Washington.DC. Carpenter will receive the “Spirit of Americana” Free Speech in Music Award from the Newseum’s First Amendment Center and the Americana Music Association. The award recognizes artists who have used their work to raise awareness and promote free speech through their music and other efforts. Past recipients include Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Joan Baez, Mavis Staples, Judy Collins, Charlie Daniels and Steve Earle

Former Washington Post journalist and current recording artist Eric Brace along with Legendary artists Rodney Crowell and Judy Collins will also perform at the event.

To view the artwork and bid online go to www.americanamusicauction.com

About the Organizations
The Americana Music Association is a professional non-profit trade organization whose mission is to promote awareness, provide a forum, and advocate for the creative and economic vitality of the Americana music genre. The Association produces a weekly radio chart and events throughout the year including the annual Americana Music Festival and Conference which will take place September 8-11, 2010 in Nashville, TN. Americana Music Festival and Conference Registrations are now available by calling the Americana Music Association office at (615) 386-6936 or through the store at www.americanamusic.org.

The First Amendment Center, with offices at the Newseum and Vanderbilt University, works to build support for First Amendment freedoms through education, information and entertainment. www.firstamendmentcenter.org

The Newseum – a 250,000-square-foot museum of news – offers visitors an experience that blends five centuries of news history with up-to-the-second technology and hands-on exhibits. Its nonpartisan mission is to champion the First Amendment as the cornerstone of democracy.
For more information on the Newseum go to www.newseum.com

link to trivia contests about Hank Williams

Visit the website : http://www.funtrivia.com/quizzes/music/music_t-z/hank_sr_williams.html for some trivia about Hank Williams.

Hank Williams Tribute tomorrow night

We're up to one night away for the Hank Williams tribute show, here in Parkersburg, as part of our 2010 Americana Music Tribute Series. These events are live music benefits for our non profit agency, Children's Home Society of West Virginia. Local musicians play sets of songs honoring that night's Americana music legend. $5 donation. Prizes and contests throughout the evening. We build up a lot of enthusiasm for the events with lead-up trivia contests and trading stories. Its at 6 Pence Pub on 7th St. in Parkersburg. Kim hosts us well these days for the events, after several years of moving the events around town. We are having a Cajun Cookoff this year again, prior to the music. (I stole the idea from a Hank Fest in Chicago)- a Jambalaya cookoff. Crawfish pie 'n' all.

Movie at Stuart's Opera House - about Wavy Gravy

Hi Folks,

Stuart's is very honored to be part of the great Athens International Film & Video Festivalwhich starts this Friday, April 23rd. We are hosting one special screening on Saturday, April 24 at 7:30pm. It is a new documentary on the most famous activist prankster hippy clown ever to live, Wavy Gravy. The producer of the film, David Decker, will be here for a talk back session and Q & A.
Beginning with Woodstock '99, director Michelle Esrick has spent ten years documenting the life of Wavy Gravy. Saint Misbehavin' journeys from the hills of California to the Himalayan Mountains to reveal the life of this one of a kind servant to humanity. The film blends Wavy's own words with magical stories from an extraordinary array of fellow travelers both cultural and counter-cultural, revealing the man behind the clown's grin and the fool's clothing. In Saint Misbehavin' Wavy is revealed more than the tie-dyed entertainer and ice-cream flavor namesake that often defines him in the popular imagination. Audiences will come to know the activist, the optimist, and the healer who reaches beyond political, economic, and cultural divisions in his commitment to social change and the alleviation of human suffering.
Wavy's life is his message, serving as deeply needed inspiration that we can change the world and have fun doing it. Satirist Paul Krasner describes Wavy as "The illegitimate son of Harpo Marx and Mother Theresa, conceived one starry night on a spiritual whoopie cushion," to which Wavy has replied, "Some people tell me I'm a saint, I tell them I'm Saint Misbehavin'."
Featuring: Wavy Gravy, Jahanara Romney, Jordon Romney, Dr. Larry Brilliant, The Grateful Dead, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Odetta, Patch Adams, Lisa Law, Buffy Sainte Marie, Denise Kaufman, Tom Law, Steven Ben Israel, The Hog Farm and more!
The Athens International Film & Video Festival runs from April 23 - April 29. Check out their website at www.athensfest.org.

Doddridge County Arts Market announcement

MORNINGSTAR & ROBERTS WILL PERFORM AT WV FAMILY ARTS MARKET

(04/21/2010)



Rick Roberts (L) and Mike Morningstar

Mike Morningstar and Rick Roberts will be performing at the WV Family Arts Market at Doddridge County Middle School on Sunday, May 2 from 3 to 5 p.m.

The WV Family Arts Market is May 1 and 2 - Saturday, 10 to 6; Sunday, noon to 5. There is no admission charge and parking is free. In addition to Mike's music, there are other music groups, art, crafts, demonstrations, food, puppets, living history and more.

* sorry there was a picture with this that didn't transfer!! Of Mike and Rick!

Traveling Music Today

It was a short trip; Charleston and back. I listened to NPR news the first part of the trip, just to get caught up on headlines. Then it was "DADDY"- (Will Kimbrough and Tommy Womack and crew)- it was "for a second time" - as they rotate between Will's song and lead vocals, and Tommy.
Then the return trip: Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women. I am just singing along with every tune.

Bill Poole sends me good stuff through the internet

So, I'm dabbling around on a Sunday with getting ready for the Hank Williams Tribute show Saturday night; trying my best to figure out ways to attract people to come to the event. I am dabbling around with the Facebook page, drumming up some trivia and such. Saying goofy things about Cajun Cooking; that sort of thing. And to my rescue comes the tried and true Bill Poole, with not only all the right answers to the Hank Williams trivia questions, but yet another extensive and impressive list of songs about Hank Williams by other artists. He has something like 75 downloaded. They are a very eclectic mix of songs, and show the power of Hank's influence on American music. Heck, Bill even named his son, Hank. He was the one who linked me to the fact that John Lilly had won a Hank Williams song writing contest at the Hank Fest in Chicago a few years ago, and that they had a Jambalaya cook off. Hmmmmm. stolen ideas. So Bill is a great musical friend. He enthusiastically works up a lot of the flyers you see around town for our events. He has brainstormed where no one else will go about events and music. Heck, he brought Commander Cody, marty Stuart, Junior Brown, Jason Ricci and Watermelon Slim to Parkersburg (and probably others I am forgetting). He gave ANDY his big(ger) breaks in Parkersburg with open mikes and Thanksgiving EPIC Greens shows.

Another Blog Post from No Depression

This article and many others are featured on my blog, Through These Eyes, covering everything from my recent move from Seattle to Nashville, to my reviews of music and film.


For the second installment of my "Perfect Song" series I've chosen Dolly Parton's 1973 breakout hit, Jolene. Like the previous song I focused on (The Beatles' Help!), I'm not choosing an esoteric song to prove to you the depths of my music appreciation. I've chosen a song that for all intent and purpose has probably gotten all the attention it's deserved. It was a #1 hit on the Country Billboard charts, it's been covered by everyone from Olivia Newton John to the White Stripes, and Rolling Stone includes it on its prestigious 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.





(click HERE to watch a clip of JOLENE on YouTube)

I like to choose songs that I think about when I am writing a new song. Sometimes I'll look at a favorite song to study it's structure, or examine how the writer got out of a key-change during the bridge, or sometimes simply to figure out what I like about it. With Dolly Parton's Jolene, we have a perfect song. Like The Beatles' Help!, Jolene begins with the chorus. It throws us right into the fire of this housewife's jealousy. After she hooks us with the chorus, the first verse is pure poetry as she describes her competition, "Your beauty is beyond compare/With flaming locks of auburn hair/With ivory skin and eyes of emerald green."

Unlike Loretta Lynn's tough talking, You Ain't Woman Enough (to Take My Man), Dolly's protagonist exposes her fear and insecurity, "And I can easily understand/How you could easily take my man/But you don't know what he means to me, Jolene." It puts Dolly in a very vulnerable place, which makes the song all the more relate-able. And it's haunting, almost "House of the Rising Sun", chord progression adds more to the allure of the song.

During the first verses, you might picture the lyrics being sung in solitude, but the last verse reveals that this has been a conversation with Jolene the whole time, "I had to have this talk with you/My happiness depends on you/And whatever you decide to do, Jolene." And she puts her fate in whatever Jolene's next move is. Often there is the temptation to write a story with a beginning, middle, and end - but great songs like this show us that it can be more effective to just throw the listener into the middle of the chaos, and not try to wrap it up tidy in the end. The song ends the same way it begins, with that great acoustic guitar pickin', and the desperate chorus begging Jolene "please don't take my man." We know more about this woman Jolene, and we know that the protagonist fears for life after her man, but we are left in the dark as far as what happens next.

I've been focusing mainly on the lyrics, but its the combination of the words with the music that make Jolene a perfect song. I love that its in a minor key, still a rarity for commercial country. The chorus and the verses are basically the same progression, but the melody changes and creates beautiful tension, so you are never tired of the chord pattern. And I love the eeriy, almost middle-eastern final chant of "Joleeenne" at the end. The drum beat, though, has probably been the biggest influence on me. With it's almost country-disco "four-on-the-floor" feel, it uproots the traditional folk chords, and gives it a fresh shuffle that drives the song. I've opened my last two albums with songs using a Jolene-esque beat, and I've got a song or two in the works that employ more of the Jolene charm. I can't get away from this song!

a review of Jerry Jeff Walker from No Depression/ Michael Perry

The Long Way Around - Feature from Issue #25 Jan-Feb 2000
Jerry Jeff Walker
Let the time go by • An equanimated Jerry Jeff Walker recalls his long-gone gonzo days
By Michael Perry

He roared across the continent creating the legend that still grows and changes and threatens altogether to becloud the personality of the man who wrote the poems…
– John Malcolm Brinnin, Dylan Thomas In America

Now some of you would live through me, lock me up and throw away the key…
– Steve Earle, “Feel Alright”

By the time he was 19, the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas had written the poems that would make him famous. His handlers put him on the road. By the time he was in his 30s, he was in great demand. He did three tours of the U.S. literary circuit, and a pattern developed. Thomas would arrive hungover, get prodigiously drunk, spout outrageous non sequiturs, gibe the highbrows, say naughty things to girls, and then blow out of town, leaving trouble to dissipate like bubbles in his wake.

For an hour or so, when the spotlight caught him, he’d loose his booming Welsh voice, perforate it with impish self-deprecation, and deliver a command performance. The crowd loved it. But the poet was no longer driven by poetry. “[It] became an almost monstrous exhibitionism as thousands wished to enjoy the voyeur’s pleasure of seeing the famous poet drunk,” writes Constantine Fitzgibbons in The Life Of Dylan Thomas.

Performance had eclipsed art. Steer him stageward, prop him up and watch him go. Let us cheer while he does what we dare not. He was on tour in America when the act caught up with the man. “Eighteen whiskeys, I think that’s a record,” he might or might not have said, and he went to his hotel room and never woke again. It was 1954. Dylan Thomas was a rock-’n'-roller’s cautionary tale back before rock ‘n’ roll was old enough to die.

Jerry Jeff Walker knows what it is to watch the act overtake the actor. Knows what it is to be the willing main attraction at a pay-per-view kamikaze show. He made a career out of kicking the wheels off his own wagon. Out of living up to the legend. And now, with the publication of his autiobiography, Gypsy Songman, Jerry Jeff tells how the legend came to be, what it cost to maintain it, and what he’s decided to do with it.

A contented, aging outlaw faces an autobiographical dilemma. Rehash the war stories, reminding everyone how naughty you once were, or admit that you’ve learned to love a little quiet time. Do the former, and you risk looking desperate and sad; do the latter, and you risk disappointing the paying public.

In Gypsy Songman, Walker has struck an engaging middle ground. The book is filled with the sort of itinerant debauchery you’d expect — “…faint wisps of beer misted from his nostrils…a few million bucks had come and gone…a fifth of whiskey and a couple of grams of coke a day…” — but the overall feel of the book is one of equanimity. Walker will be pleased to tell you about the gonzo days, but he is equally pleased to tell you he has lived in the same house for twenty years.

The book proceeds chronologically, but rather than giving a blow-by-blow death march of dates and places, Walker lets the story breathe by not trying to tell it all. “We had already decided there were about four big places in my life,” he says, on the phone from Austin. “Oneonta [New York], growin’ up; New Orleans, street singing; to New York to get the break with ‘Bojangles’; then Austin, where I lived. And then the rest would just be my life touring.”

The story begins on March 16, 1942, with the birth of Ronald Clyde Crosby (Jerry Jeff Walker was many years and several name changes away). When Dad came home from the war, the Crosbys took up residence in Oneonta:

It was an Ozzie and Harriet life for me. Tuna sandwich and Oreo cookies after school. Crewcut boys riding thick-tired bicycles with old playing cards chattering in the spokes. Shooting hoops in the backyard until dark. I had free run of the neighborhood. No fences between the neighbors’ back yards. So it was one big playground.

Eventually little Ronnie took to running away. Away, as he puts it in the book, from his home, his family, even his name. He ran away, but he never got over the idea of the world as a playground. Hitchiking in 1963, Ronnie — now calling himself Jerry Ferris — found a new place to play: “Driving into Louisiana, along Lake Ponchartrain, I smelled a new air and entered the special magical land of New Orleans.”

A street musician’s education commenced shortly. New Orleans was where the man who would become Jerry Jeff Walker got deep into the exploration of music and performance as a way of life. He went away now and then — “Road adventures were a big part of [our] existence…” — but New Orleans was the nexus.

“I’d never been around such people,” writes Walker. “Until now all the people I had known over thirty were all selling insurance. But here were writers and thinkers and drifters. Painters, poets, madmen. They made their living bartending and at other fringe occupations in the Quarter.” Monday nights, the crowd converged on a smoky apartment occupied by a pair of gay poets and convened Ivan’s Wine Discussion Group. The wine was gallon-jug Gallo, and the discussion covered everything from Lead Belly to Jean Genet. One night a man left the gathering, and Walker followed him to the river.

…I found myself sitting down by the river drinking wine with a raging visionary poet. Page by page he was tossing his writing into the Mississippi. He would read to the night then toss a page. Tenderly beautiful poems, strange haunting babbles, and giant epics. He had stayed up many painful mornings scratching these in solitude. And now he was watching a freighter pass under night clouds and throwing all that work into the river.

Walker’s decision to strain the tell-all soup for images like these elevate Gypsy Songman above the chummy ain’t-we-been-bad drivel it easily could have been. The book is nicely stocked with this sort of pleasant surprise. His description of his beloved Uncle Clyde, a potbellied farmer who played the drums and called square dances, is worshipful and tender. When Clyde was killed in a haying accident, Walker was working in the same field. He tells of finding Clyde beneath the tractor, and how after the ambulance left, he ran off to a high meadow to cry, “realizing that some things broken can’t be mended.”

The book is also buoyed by straight talk. If you’re wondering how FM radio transformed from free-form stew to tasteless corporate gruel — and what this devolution meant to music in general — you’ll find the answer in Chapter 12. If you think a record deal and a hit will make you rich, read the aptly placed Chapter 13. If you want to avoid Chapter 13, read Chapter 14, which is essentially a crash course in the warts-out side of the music business. And then, to wrap things up, proceed to Chapter 16, wherein MCA Records head Jimmy Bowen makes a most illuminating, if uncomplimentary, cameo.

Several long runs in the book detail the genesis of “Mr. Bojangles”, the song that broke Jerry Jeff Walker. While it is generally true that the song was based on a character Walker met upon being tossed into jail in New Orleans after climbing atop a table in the Café Du Monde and declaring that “Love will not be threatened by force or doubt,” this is not the whole story.

Kim Ruehl in No Depression - a blog post about Phil Ochs

On topical music and the power of song, nearing the 34th anniversary of Phil Ochs' deathPosted by Kim Ruehl on April 7, 2010 at 11:30am
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On September 11, 2001, as I beelined south through Manhattan to get to my girlfriend-at-the-time, trying in vain to absorb what I just saw go down (literally), to make sense of it all in whatever immediate way one can contemplate such a behemoth moment, the chorus which appeared in my head was one by Phil Ochs:

Here is a land full of power and glory,
beauty that words cannot recall.
Her power shall rest on the strength of her freedom,
glory shall rest on us all.

In retrospect, I recognize it's a strange thing to think in such a context. But that's where my brain went.

The song from which it comes is, in my opinion, one of the finest assertions of patriotism and loyalty to the American Movement since Woody Guthrie penned "This Land Is Your Land."


In the weeks following 9/11, as life returned to whatever level of normalcy can come when there are soldiers patrolling 14th Street, people roaming around in gas masks, and traffic not allowed below Canal, I spent a lot of time at open mic nights and whatnot, listening to my songwriter friends try to capture the moment in song. I thought a lot about the kind of song Phil would have written in such a moment, and couldn't shake the sentiment of "Power and the Glory." Particularly as time plodded on ever farther, politics and wars took us down paths which, let's just say, didn't please me. Those last two lines of the chorus stuck with me.

I've read criticisms of Phil's work which placed it below that of his contemporaries because he was, perhaps, too topical. It's a frequent complaint about what people refer to as "protest" music or "topical" music (Ochs preferred the latter designation), that songwriters tend not to make those songs universal and timeless. Dylan, for example, captured a somewhat similar sentiment more timelessly with "Blowin in the Wind," putting the onus on all of us to answer his series of complicated, rhetorical questions. But, if pressed, I'd call "Power and the Glory" the better song. In the words of Pete Seeger, "Any darn fool can make something complex; it takes a genius to make something simple." Dylan raises questions; Ochs answers them. Simple.

(Not calling Dylan a fool, by any stretch, but it goes without saying his work is slightly more complicated than Ochs'. Do with that what you will.)

There's a school of thought which contends trying to make a song timeless - rather, trying to make it anything - is a disservice not only to one's audience, but also to the song itself. Consider a conversation about something like Civil Rights. Sure, the topic is far-reaching and implies things far beyond the here and now; but in discussing such a thing with an individual, perhaps the most present argument will be the one which sways them one way or another on the topic. Decades later, that argument may appear outdated but that doesn't mean it was any less powerful when it was made, or any less necessary.

I would also argue there's no such thing as protest or topical music, since pretty much anything someone could possibly have to say in a song is timely in some context, and topical. (And I don't mean this purely in the sense of the face value of lyrics, as there's something current and I'd daresay topical about Lady Gaga's scat - or whatever the hell that is - in "Bad Romance." Feel free to chew on that one in the comments.) Further, saying what's on your mind - whether it be love, loss, or upset with the actions of your government - isn't really protesting anything; it's honest. The songs Ochs wrote about the pursuit of justice can just as easily be called love songs, as anything. I'd question anyone who believes dissent is rooted in anything other than great love and passion.

But this is not a blog about socio-political issues; it's about the memory of Phil Ochs who, had he managed to survive the things which drew him toward his end, would turn 70 this December. Friday will be the 34th anniversary of the day Ochs hanged himself. Though I never saw him perform, much less met him (being born a year after someone's death inhibits such things a bit), I've always had a certain kinship with his work. I miss some of the cultural references, but not the point. His work was urgent, as was the time in which he lived and worked.

Music, like any art form, gives us an opportunity to share the unsharable, the discussions which perhaps would be out of place or inappropriate for a dinner party or a casual conversation over coffee. It turns our minds on to ideas which might feel touchy or offensive if a stranger brought them up out of nowhere. This is as true of love songs as political discourse and dissent. Ochs seemed to understand that moreso than many of his contemporaries, even, and to approach it with a certain disregard toward legacy. It didn't quite matter whether his songs survived him and remained timeless for generations to come. That wasn't the point. Of course, it turns out topical songwriters to this day look to his work for inspiration, and continue to evolve his material to fit present events. (Look up "Love Me I'm a Liberal," and you'll find several variations re-worked in the folk tradition, with added verses and switched-up lines which could apply to the present day.)

I can't pretend to know how that fact would delight Ochs now. But, I can recommend a couple of my favorite Phil Ochs songs to anyone so far unfamiliar. And, to those with less time on their hands to go reading other articles, I can share the video below of him performing "I Ain't Marching Anymore." As I alluded to above, this would be one of those topical songs I'd sooner call a love song. It tells the story of the American Movement as if it were the story of one man who has, through so many violent mistakes, learned the lesson to stop going to war and try some other route. Of course, Ochs doesn't tell us what would be a better way to solve our differences - he recognized such an enormous idea would be beyond the capacity of a songwriter. Peace is not the journey of a single person, but a pursuit we must focus on together. But, like so many of his songs, "I Ain't Marching Anymore" isn't aimed at sweeping change; it's aimed at subtle redirection. The more people Ochs could turn around with such an assertion, the more people may be headed in the same direction. Change one small thing and watch the ripples.

It's somewhat of an obsession of mine whether a song can change the world, and I've asked several songwriters that very question. The most interesting answers to me always indicate something along the lines of, a song can change someone's mind. Music is, after all, quite literally a force - sound is forced air; music is organized sound. So, given the opportunity to physically alter the flow of air around you, as a songwriter, isn't that quite an opportunity? I've always thought so, but there are discussions on this site which would indicate there are several who might disagree. At any rate, Ochs took advantage of his opportunity to re-steer anyone who might open their minds long enough to hear his music. And this love song to his country is just one example:


Considering all his work continues to make me wonder what Ochs would have done with 9/11, and how he'd have responded to the years which have followed in its ripples. I only ever wrote a single song about my experience, and watched as history unfolded with few songwriters on the large scale wrangling some universal sentiments into song. Steve Earle gave it a go (quite well, in my opinion, but probably not so well to folks on the opposite end of the ideology spectrum than me). Ani DiFranco did her thing. Surely numerous lesser-known artists took their work there, but I've yet to see another songwriter as dedicated as Phil Ochs. And, I've yet to hear another song which so adequately discusses the things on which we can all agree, the changes we all desire, as well as "Power and the Glory."
Tags: americana, folk music, nodepression, phil ochs, protest music, roots music, topical music

Mountain Stage on the radio last night

I heard the recent Mountain Stage I attended a month or so ago on the radio last night- Ray Wylie Hubbard and Robert Earl Keen. Good show- Using all three of their names; both of them. Hmmmm. Steve Roger Tuck. (no, I guess not)

Fred Eaglesmith in the "area"

Fred Eaglesmith will be in Pittsburgh, May 9th at the Thunderbird Cafe. He will be in the DC area June 17th in Virginia, at Jammin Java. I miss a good dose of ol' Fred, so I'll look at those dates and see what might happen.

New benefit show set up- April 30th-

Fred Shreve has organized a music benefit for us, at CHS-Parkersburg. Fred, a songwriter and music fan, has known about our various musical fund raisers for several years. He and some cohorts in his school and the community, are getting together a benefit show for us, Friday, April 30th at 7 pm at Jefferson School auditorium. $5 donation supports CHS in the Parkersburg community. Fred is the principal at Mckinley school where we have our after school program, and is the center of our neigbhorhood work. Fred is a talented songwriter and wry entertainer, as well as an enthusiast of singer-songwriters in the Radney Foster, John Hiatt, vein. Greg Syner also writes songs in the folk, country rock, genre. They also have a band with some great vocal harmonies, doing "classic rock" covers. There are flyers up around town, and listen for spots on the TV and radio. Come out for an enjoyable evening of music and support our work in the McKinley neighborhood.

Hank Williams Tribute show this Saturday night

The next event in the Children's Home Society of West Virginia-Parkersburg "2010 Mid OHio Valley Americana Music Tribute Series" is this coming Saturday starting at 6 pm with a Cajun Cookoff at 6 Pence Pub in Parkersburg. $5 donation supports the work of CHS-Parkersburg's foster care program. The music starts a little later, after everybody has sampled and voted on their favorite Cajun delights. (As of now) Four acts of music are set to play tributes to Hank Williams. Lisa and Jerry Queen and the Neon Moon Band will be featured, with their always special renditions, and special guests. Matt and Will Kirkland will play a set. Steve Peck and Jonny Nutter are the stalwarts in the line up, playing most every tribute show throughout the year. We'll have a few contests and some prizes throughout the evening. Come out and have an enjoyable evening of music celebrating Hank Williams, and support our work with area foster children.

Lucinda Williams on the CD player

Taking care of some Sunday morning miscellaneous at work, listening to Lucinda Williams on the CD player. Live at the Fillmore. Picked another Lucinda song for the song of the day today: Over Time. Currently playing : Your Sweet Side.

Greens to VA yesterday

The Mid Ohio Valley Greens fans were disappointed to have the Greens have to cancel their 6 Pence show last night, getting a gig in Virginia (Charlottesville?) Oh well, there will be other nights, other shows.

Bio of Mary Gauthier - new CD coming out soon

BioPRESS RESOURCES



“There’s freedom in knowing that you don’t have to know it all,” she says, “which is why to me, a song should end with a question, not an answer.” It might seem that after six groundbreaking albums of original songs, more than a dozen years of recording and touring around the world, a harvest of music industry awards, and covers of her songs by a roster of great artists – that Mary Gauthier (say it: go-shay) should have a handle on some of the big answers. Yet with each new album, with each new cycle of songs that illuminate her soul, with each old and new set of characters and life changes she introduces, Mary is always ending up with more questions. Where do her people come from and where do they go? How can they find shelter from the storm? What is the truth?

It is said that the master songwriters – the “truth tellers,” as Mary refers to the likes of Bob Dylan and Neil Young, Leonard Cohen and Patti Smith – always put a piece of themselves into every song and first shined light on the truth and lies of her world before she began to put pen to paper herself. It’s up to the listener to imagine what is real and what is a dream. This sense of autobiography has always loomed large in the work of Mary Gauthier. On her newest album, The Foundling, her first concept album, Mary opens the door on the defining circumstance of her life, the emotional journey and aftermath of finding the mother who surrendered her in New Orleans after her birth in March 1962 (the month Bob Dylan released his first album, to put a perspective on it).

On The Foundling, Mary explains via her website (www.marygauthier.com), “the songs tell the story of a kid abandoned at birth who spent a year in an orphanage and was adopted, who ran way from the adopted home and ended up in show business, who searched for birth parents late in life and found one and was rejected, and who came through the other side of all of this still believing in love.” Mary’s “compass” was Willie Nelson’s Red Headed Stranger, his classic concept album of 1975 (with “Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain”).

Written and recorded over the course of two years, The Foundling was produced in Toronto by Michael Timmins of Cowboy Junkies, using local musicians and his sister Margo Timmins on vocal harmonies. “Margo added another layer of emotional punch in the right places,” says Mary. She praises Mike’s ability “to capture my story and create moods around it, a dream soundscape. The musicians breathed their hearts and souls into my songs, and they brought them to life. I am pleased beyond my wildest dreams at how the record came out.”

Those familiar with the bones of Mary Gauthier’s life may find it difficult to choke back the emotion of the album, from the Gypsy-flavored opening of “The Foundling” (“a baby unwanted, unloved, and unblessed/ Left on a doorstep, an unbidden guest”), to the upbeat bluegrass groove on the bittersweet “Good Bye” (“I hit the wall then I hit the highway/ I’ve got the curse of a gypsy on my soul”); from the crushing phone conversation with the mother who refuses to meet her, “March 11, 1962” (“You say that I’m a secret, nobody knows/ And you can’t talk about it now, and you really gotta go,” co-written with Liz Rose), to the final epilogue of “Another Day Borrowed” (“I shook my fist at my father’s rage, I cursed my mother’s sadness/ But every home I tried to call my own, washed into a river of madness,” co-written with Darrell Scott).

The Foundling now provides a foundation, a starting point for Mary’s peripatetic odyssey. Orphaned at the St. Vincent’s Infants Home, she was eventually adopted by a couple from Thibodaux – Italian, Catholic and doomed. Raised in Baton Rouge, Mary felt a deep alienation – from her cookie-cutter neighborhood of little boxes, from school, and from her adoptive parents. “I felt like I was dying. My father was an alcoholic. My mother cried all the time. Both of them were suicidal. There was chaos and pandemonium in the family.” The only thing that was saving her was the music, the “truth-tellers.” But Mary was decades away from finding her muse as a songwriter.

At age 15, Mary famously stole her parents’ car and hit the road. It was the beginning of a downward spiral of substance abuse, multiple stints in detox and halfway houses and squatting with friends. She spent her 18th birthday in a jail cell in Salina, Kansas, until they kicked her out of the state, “and I just kept running.” Somehow, she got herself enrolled at LSU as a philosophy major, with assistance from the state and from the owner of a restaurant near campus where she was washing dishes.

But old habits die hard, and Mary was forced to drop out in her senior year. She moved from Baton Rouge to Boston and although still using, was able to hold down a counter job at a small café, where she was promoted to manager. Again, friends helped her back into school, this time at the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts. She hatched a plan to open a New Orleans style Cajun restaurant in Back Bay, and Dixie Kitchen proved a success. She immersed herself in every aspect of maintaining the restaurant until the drudgery caught up with her and she had to run away. Again. The difference this time was that she finally got sober. When she did, the musical floodgates opened and the songwriting began.

Mary was as passionate about her songs as she was about soul food. Picking up a guitar, she made her way to open mic nights on Boston’s busy coffeehouse circuit and in 1997, at age 35, she released her debut album, titled (what else?) Dixie Kitchen. To her surprise, she was nominated for Best New Contemporary Folk Artist at the Boston Music Awards. She started traveling to workshops with the Nashville Songwriters Association and eventually sold her interest in the Dixie Kitchen restaurant to finance her second album.

Drag Queens in Limousines (1999, with her signature “I Drink”) drew a four-star rating in Rolling Stone and broke Mary’s career wide open, as she became a presence at folk festivals across the U.S. and Europe. The title tune won Best Folk/Singer-Songwriter Song at the first annual Independent Music Awards; the album earned the Crossroads Silver Star Award; and Mary was named Best Country Music Artist at the GLAMA’s (Gay and Lesbian American Music Awards). With her third CD, Filth & Fire (2002), Mary began an association with Gurf Morlix, former sideman and producer for Lucinda Williams; Gurf also produced major releases with Robert Earl Keen, Slaid Cleaves, Tom Russell and others. Filth & Fire was named Best Indy CD Of The Year by Jon Pareles of the New York Times, the Best Singer/Songwriter Album Of The Year by No Depression, and Freeform American Roots poll critics chose Mary as their Female Artist Of The Year.

With the release of her next album, Mercy Now (2005), again produced by Morlix, Mary graduated to major label status as she joined the prestigious Lost Highway label, home to Lucinda, Keen, Willie Nelson, Elvis Costello, Shelby Lynne, Ryan Adams, Lyle Lovett, and many others. Around the same time, Mary officially moved to Nashville. Mercy Now, with its updated version of “I Drink,” appeared on a score of year-end “Best Of” lists, including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Billboard, and No Depression. Mary was named New/Emerging Artist Of The Year at the annual Americana Music Association Awards, and Bob Dylan included “I Drink” on his “Theme Time Radio Hour” program.

For her next album, Between Daylight and Dark (2007), Mary was teamed with master producer Joe Henry, whose impressive list of album credits to that point included work with Solomon Burke, Bruce Cockburn, Loudon Wainwright III, Susan Tedeschi, and Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint’s River In Reverse. “If she keeps this up, one day she may assume the mantle of Johnny Cash,” raved the New York Daily News; while the Boston Globe praised Mary’s “particular blend of toughness and vulnerability that puts her in a league with Bruce Springsteen and Steve Earle.”

Now it all comes full circle back to The Foundling, as Mary Gauthier lives each day at a time, keeping the demons at bay, always looking for answers, always asking questions. “I’ve discovered we are all wanderers of sorts, we are all looking for meaning in lives that contain no guarantees. My birth mother and my adopted family loved me the very best they could and I am grateful for their sacrifices. I do have a good life. It has been a long road and it’s taken me longer than I am proud of, but these days I find myself at peace, grateful for each borrowed day.”

(biography by Arthur Levy, January 2010)

coffee house tonight had a good turnout

Roger Adkins and Cody Jones put on an entertaining coffee house this evening, to a crowd of over 25 people here at our humble little storefront. They had different styles but both engaged the audience well, and provided a lot of diversity and entertainment. Both gave plenty of original songs, as well as well chosen covers for their styles. They both were enthusiastic to keep being involved in live music events we have here at our St. Mary's Ave. storefront location.

visit: www.americanaradio.org

The Americana Airplay Chart represents the reported play of terrestrial radio stations, nationally syndicated shows, satellite radio and Internet stations which have agreed to submit weekly spin counts on Americana albums they've played during the previous week. The chart is an album-based chart for new releases and is not meant to reflect airplay on singles, recurrents or catalog albums.

The Chart itself is one of the most unique in the musical landscape and can be viewed at www.americanaradio.org. It has been featured in Rolling Stone Magazine and others and weekly includes a cool array of artists from legends to the next generation of stars. This Weeks Top Ten include:

1. VARIOUS, Crazy Heart Original Motion Picture Soundtrack New West
2. CAROLINA CHOCOLATE DROPS, Genuine Negro Jig Nonesuch
3. JOHN HIATT, The Open Road New West
4. PATTY GRIFFIN, Downtown Church Credential
5. RECKLESS KELLY, Somewhere In Time Yep Roc
6. RAY WYLIE HUBBARD, A Enlightenment B Endarkenment Hint There Is No C Bordello/Thirty Tigers
7. CARRIE RODRIGUEZ, Love And Circumstance Ninth Street Opus
8. WILL KIMBROUGH, Wings Daphne
9. JOHNNY CASH, American VI: Ain't No Grave American/Lost Highway
10. RED MOLLY, James Independent

Coffee House at Children's Home Society of Wv- Parkersburg

Saturday night, April 10 at 7 pm we will have a coffee house here at our storefront at 1739 St. Mary's Ave (suite 3), featuring Roger Adkins. Roger lives nearby, and is an enthusiastic acoustic blues guitar fan. Come on out and support live music in Parkersburg!

Todd Snider on World Cafe on NPR the other night

There is a nice little interview with Todd Snider on NPR's World Cafe from a night earlier this week- about 19 minutes; plays three songs off Excitement Plan- tells the stories behind the songs.

Traveling Music to Charleston and back

John Hiatt; David Rawlings Machine; Mary Gauthier- just a wee bit of NPR news, too.

News about John Prine CD releases!

The tracklisting for In Person & On Stage is:
1. Spanish Pipedream
2. She Is My Everything
3. In Spite Of Ourselves with Iris DeMent

4. Long Monday

5. The Late John Garfield Blues with Sara Watkins

6. The Bottomless Lake

7. Bear Creek Blues

8. Saddle In Rain

9. Angel From Montgomery with Emmylou Harris

10. Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore

11. Mexican Home with Josh Ritter
12. Unwed Fathers with Iris DeMent
13. Glory Of True Love
14. Paradise with Kane Welch Kaplin



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On June 22, Oh Boy Records will also release a very special album celebrating John Prine's music. Featuring some of the most-renowned acts across musical genres, Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows: Songs Of John Prine shows Prine's resounding influence on contemporary music. These artists have recorded their own version of some of Prine's most popuar songs to celebrate the man whose music has a passion and poignancy that is virtually unmatched.

Here is the tracklisting:
1. Justin Vernon of Bon Iver - Bruised Orange (Chain Of Sorrow)
2. Conor Oberst And The Mystic Valley Band - Wedding Day In Funeralville

3. My Morning Jacket - All The Best

4. Josh Ritter - Mexican Home

5. Lambchop - Six O'Clock News

6. Justin Townes Earle - Far From Me

7. The Avett Brothers - Spanish Pipedream

8. Old Crow Medicine Show - Angel From Montgomery

9. Sara Watkins - The Late John Garfield Blues

10. Drive-By Truckers - Daddy's Little Pumpkin

11. Deer Tick featuring Liz Isenberg - Unwed Fathers

12. Those Darlins - Let's Talk Dirty In Hawaiian

The opening track "Bruised Orange" on the album was featured on NPR's All Things Considered this morning. Check out their website and scroll down to see where you can stream the entire song, or if you want to listen to the whole show, the album is discussed around the 01:08:11 mark.

Traveling Music

Oh, the CD's I went through driving to Washington Dc and back this weekend. Too many to recount exactly. Pete Seeger at 89; Chris Smither, Holly Near, John Hiatt, Lucinda Williams, Greg Brown, Bleeker St (compilation).

John Prine- live CD coming out in May

John Prine has a live CD coming out in May- its previewed at No Depression's website- with the songs that are on it, etc. This is exciting news; for all the great Prine shows we've seen in the last 6-8 years it will be a trip down good memory lane.