I can say that I've fallen in love with Barbara Jean, and it won't threaten my 30+ year marriage, because my wife agrees... she's a talented and beautiful young lady.
Don't just take my word, listen to her live on MN NPR, and see how they describe her:
"Blend one banjo, one fiddle, ten years in Grand Marais, a lifetime of classical music...toss together thoughtfully in the studio, simmer with very talented musicians, add boots and you get "The Great Escape".
Barbara Jean's first album is full of original music, mostly written surrounded by the beauty of Grand Marais, Minnesota. After several years there, she's moved back to Minneapolis and has teamed up with some great local musicians to gig in the Twin Cities.
Barbara Jean stopped by the studio with two of her friends, Dave Olson and Erik Koskinen, to play a few songs from her latest album on Radio Heartland."
She's also has a great dark song on the free mix from the Great River Folk Fest :
We're ecstatic to have Willy Porter closing
our Saturday night concert at the 2013 Great River Folk Fest; and playing song swaps on Saturday and
Sunday during the day. If you have friend who has never experienced
what it's like to watch song swaps; please pass the word... they
at many times have been the best memories from the fest. AND This year
we will be staggering the times so you don't have to choose between
swaps... we're limiting as much overlap in the schedule as possible!
Stop over our Great River Folk Fest Facebook fan page, even if you are from out of town... we're a long running fest, and you might find yourself in La Crosse some day.. Plus our friends are your friends.
I've met so many great artists at the fest, and hosted a few at house concerts including David Stoddard, Becky Schlegel, and next up Carrie Elkin.
Guess who just became a member.... hey I'm out of their range normally, but the internet fixes that...
The Only Community Radio in the Wisconsin Driftless
Driftless Community Radio, Inc. (DCR), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, was incorporated in 2003 in response to public demand for a radio station that would meet the unique needs of Wisconsin's driftless region.
WDRT 91.9FM (Driftless Community Radio) is the Driftless region's only noncommercial, independent radio station. In a time when fewer media moguls own the vast majority of information sources, WDRT is bucking the trend. We’re putting radio in the hands of the public. We welcome everyone in the community to participate. We aren’t beholden to advertisers, and we have time to go beyond sound bites.
WDRT is:
Non-commercial
Listener-supported and programmed
Volunteer-run
Our operations depend on grants, donations, underwriting, and community power.
Our schedule features local news and events reported by local on-air hosts. We also broadcast music and cultural programming unavailable elsewhere on the dial. Check out our current programming schedule.
Our antenna serves almost all of Vernon county, as well as parts of adjacent counties, and we also stream our programing live online. Find us on the dial at 91.9FM in southwest Wisconsin.Or listen to us live right now on the web.
WDRT 91.9FM – Community Radio . . . From The Ground Up!
This video came up in the suggestions ... hmm I said James McMurtry covering a song? Guy Clark... I like Guy Clark. When I heard the line, "There ain't no money in poetry..." I went to iTunes and bought it. Cold Dog Soup is basically warm water..
William Butler Yeats in jeans Got up to play guitar and sing In some join in Mission Beach last night At the door sat Tom Waits In a pork pie hat and silver skates Jugglin' three collection plates Jesus Christ Townes Van Zandt standin' at the bar Skinnin' a Hollywood movie star Can't remember where he parked his car Or to whom he lost the keys Full of angst and hillbilly haiku What's a poor Ft. Worth boy to do Go on rhyme somethin' for em' man Show him how you really feel Chorus Ain't no money in poetry That's what sets the poet free I've had all the freedom I can stand Cold dog soup and rainbow pie Is all it takes to get me by Fool my belly till the day I die Cold dog soup and rainbow pie Ginsberg and Kerouac Shootin' dice and playin' Ramblin' Jack's guitar With the cowboy paintin' pickguard on it And they sat in the back and drank for free And rhymed orange with Rosalie Now there's a pride of lions to draw to Chorus
Last night at our committee meeting this song came up in conversation about Dar Williams. It's such a wonderful cover of Fred Eaglesmith's song.
Click here for the video... it's prohibits embedding but it didn't prohibit me embedding Fred's version and if you never heard his intro... it's wonderfully funny. To a point where I won't write it in the blog, you have to listen to it.
The apple did fall to far from the tree, Larry McMurtry's son James McMurtry works in short stories, in lyric from; and when his take longer than 4 minutes no one complains.
Ha now isn't that brash! Everyone knew Crystal Bowersox but me! My bandmate Paula is always telling me to watch American Idol, but I just grow weary of the production hype. Once I heard "oh so and so covered Hallelujah and it was great" I went to the video... "It SUCKED.." no depth to the lyrics and passion to the song. Guess who loves gritty vocals to fine tuned slick vocals.. HA!
So now I ran into Crystal Bowersox in an iTunes new music release and it was good. Then I started to back track and understand who she was. Wow a busker who made it to number two on the elitist media music hype machine. Well done. Do you want to play our folk fest? or a House Concert? Probably will sound a lot like this:
Study of Annabelle Lee in YouTube... first a reading and photo collage in front of a fitting instrumental version of "My heart will go on"
Then leave it to Joan Baez to put a lofty ballad to it... Not my favorite, only made it through 40 seconds.
Then there the lovely Sarah Jarosz with the all star Transatlantic backup band. She is a wonderful young musician. I'd love to see her entertain LaCrosse at the Great River Folk Fest.
This one surprised the heck out of me... STEVIE NICKS... The video about says, Taken from the iTunes Deluxe Version of "In Your Dreams", there's extra artwork, pics & song-info on that not on the regular or the Fan Edition CDs. Well worth the purchase IMO... Check out my Playlist "In Your Dreams"
Now this one by a latin group Radio Futura is very interesting. Makes me want to grab the congas and start an version based on the groove in English.
Another group that was new to me, Sweet Sister Pain, is more in my vocal range, and I absolutely love the Cello and how the choir joins this mournful bluesy vocal.
Sunday I thought by reading the Chocolate Drop Facebook feed that they had just lost to Janis Ian, but on Monday settled and I had time to check the Grammy went to Janis for Spoken word... oh my as part of the Great River Folk Fest Performance committee, I'd love to listen to Janis a Friday night concert. She still has it... and then I could apologize for changing her words to Mary Eyes to glorify Lady Mary Crawley. She was 14 when she wrote Society's Child... enjoy.
Back in May 2010 Lori and I went to Big River Wave radio taping at the Big River Theater in Alma Wi. It was a blast, and I would tell you to go but with limited seating I'd be worried eventually we would show up without reservations at the last minute and there wouldn't be chairs for us. So you just stay away and listen to the re-broadcasts Friday night at 6 pm in August on Wisconsin Public Radio. It might not be picked up everywhere... so go drop them a note at www.wpr.com
Besides great music the show has a regular by the name of Mary Mack. I think I want to go back just to see the 10 minutes of Mary. Of course I'm going to brashly add Mary as a regular to The Zemmy Show. She has a great youtube site, but don't subscribe to it. I'll post the good ones here.
Since then I hosted Mary at our house concert... she was a tremendous hit. Everyone loved her and can't wait to see her again. Here she is on with her gang banger song...
I'm always partial to sisters making music together (SHEL, Ellie & Leela Grace...) and here's another group, The Erickson's with a local LaCrosse flair. Even playing here this weekend at The Root Note.
The community of musicians in Brooklyn supported The Ericksons and in 2008, they released their first record, Middle of the Night, a raw, acoustic set of songs. Home called to the sisters, though, and they returned to the Midwest and in 2010, released Don’t Be Scared, Don’t Be Alarmed,
a record more fully fleshed out by producer Beau Sorenson (who recently
produced Field Report’s debut). Their first records, with their picked
guitars and string, their animal, natural harmonies and deep melancholy
hinting at greater loss......The result is the fullest, richest record yet from The Ericksons, an
honest reckoning with that grief and love, rooted in American sounds.
Wearing influences like A.A. Bondy, Emmylou Harris and The Pines on
their sleeves, The Wild completely envelops the listener in the
life that Bethany and Jenny have made in song. From the torch song with a
gasping punch of “Find Yourself a Lover” to the open, beating heart of
“Six Feet Underground” and the everyday blues of “Dirty Dishes,” there
is a universal beauty here that transcends lived pain.
So do you? Ha... I'm not inviting you over for a night of Barry White, more like some acoustic music performed live for 20-40 people. Intimate.. of course, just not the way you were thinking originally. I've hosted about four of these a year since 2008, and they are documented in our other blog or Facebook page. I do love when I get newbies to our series; they are astounded the quality of artist and the incredible freshness of the venue. (Of course I clean the house beforehand... Ha) Now I read that this format is generating speed everywhere... check out this article.
And of course if you are within two hours of LaCrosse Wisconsin... consider coming over to my house and listen to some great music! I met David at the Great River Folk Fest, and this is his second time to our series! He writes such great songs, witty, funny and of course touching at times. This time he joins Beth Wood who is also coming back for a second stop... what an absolute treat she is. (Speaking of cleaning the house.... for Beth the carpets even get Rug Doctor'd to eliminate our cat dander... yes we have three of them... so you know how much I love to listen to Beth to go through that work!)
There is a new trend in our area for intense repetitive bluegrass, and Evergreen Grass Band embodies it.. I do wonder where it came from, and it's definitely fueled by alcohol; but it's not that there isn't a marvel for harmonies, and the sheer endurance. It's like bluegrass on steroids. After I watched the first video, I thought... sure it's not every song, so onward I kept going, and going. Frankly I was tired for them; but I admire them.
My friend Grace has great tastes! Here is a group that packs a little dixie punch, so it's fitting they like to play gigs up and down the Mississippi. Davina & The Vagabonds are known as one of the hardest working bands with over 300 gigs a year... wow. Here's what Grace had to say:
"They like to play the river road all the way down to the gulf and back.
They also enjoy playing at a little bar in Lansing, IA called the Other
Place. I saw them late this spring and it was a packed house. Based out
of the Twin Cities, playing occasionally at the Dakota ( a blues club)
in Minneapolis. More good dancing music."
You want to get a groove on with a surfer free form, look into Nahko who my friend Grace described Nahko and Medicine for the People to me as:
My
parents are big fans! They happened across them last fall up near
Madeline Island, they were playing a benefit. Also a friend of mine was
on tour with them this last summer and has nothing but good things to
say. Nahko sounds like such a nice, down to earth guy and he writes
beautiful lyrics. They are on tour in Australia right now but will be
back for the summer. They have dates set up until July and play many
festivals.
There website describes them:
Oregon-native Nahko, born a mix of Apache, Puerto Rican, and Filipino cultures and adopted into an American family, suffered an identity crisis from an early age. But the unifying power of music entered his life as a healing remedy, when he took up the piano at age six. Armed with his newfound talent, he set out to bridge the cultural gaps dividing his own psyche and began producing a public, musical journal of his journey toward personal, spiritual, and communal healing.
From his hometown of Portland to the shores of Hawaii or Bali, wherever he has traveled, Nahko is joined by a tribe of culturally alienated truth seekers for whom Nahko’s story resonates with their own, and who find redemption in his voice, guitar, flute, and drum. Whether solo or with the dynamic group of musical troubadours known as “Medicine for the People,” Nahko delivers a soulful dose of curative vibrations that moves audiences to dance, laugh, and cry. His ‘spirited redemption music’ lays bear the scars of cultural wounds, environmental wrongs, and social injustices. His lyrics bear the burden of heavy messages, but the load is lightened by agile melodies and driving rhythms that coerce all who bear witness into spirited, purifying, movement. His humor disarms, and his lyrical stories open listeners to the power of “Real Talk Music”—songs that reveal an honesty and depth so raw, it inspires an internal revival that echoes out into the world. Sometimes exuberant, sometimes savage, but always transformational, Nahko makes the movement move.
Rhythmic Circus, if you want to get
funky and get some dancing going on I think these guys do it. They
are a large group and is based out of the Twin Cities and one of the members
also has a solo act and plays at our local bar Popcorn in La Crosse often. They
are very energetic and family friendly!
Hope you enjoy!
We're considering them for our Festival.. aren't they cool.
I'm on the performers committee of the Great River Folk Fest for the first time this year, www.facebook.com/greatriverfolkfest, and Jami Lynn's name came across the email. What a fine string banjo player for such a young pup from South Dakota; and he's a pretty good flat picker. Here's a link to her website.
The duo formed like this:
Black Hills duo Jami Lynn & Dylan James met on the street in the summer of 2012. Their fortuitous meeting not only revealed their shared love of folk, bluegrass, and jazz, but marked the beginning of an ambitious duo project harnessing Jami’s powerful vocals and Dylan’s first rate flat-picking skills.
I like the fresh groove. I like the harmonies. I like the fact that all lady violin players are gorgeous. I like how the use of a single trumpet changes the mood. I like "I Like You"
The video described it as: The ever-colorful Wendy O'Sunshyne leads the equally colorful band, i like you. The band features a unique and energetic blend of vocals, percussion, guitar, violin, trumpet, upright bass and of course, ukulele. Here, the group performs their lively song "New Beginning" in Brant Kingman's North Minneapolis studio. mnoriginal.org
