Sean Rowe is one of the "most industrious of poets," as per Ramsay Midwood.
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Fist-fighting Paramecium
Woody Guthrie devoted a pretty good bit of his autobiography "Bound for Glory" to a description of two paramecium fist-fighting. I think what he meant was, it's turtles all the way down.
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Palatypus
This Thursday night at Valentine's: Palatypus. Here's an interview I did with the dudes way back in the day when their album "Lazaretto" had just come out.
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Green Sweatshirt
Here's a new one by me.
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"In this business you either sink or swim or you don't." -David Smith
One time I had lunch with Peter Rowan at a friend's house in Latham. I should have asked him about Bill Monroe but instead I asked him if the semi-tones in Indian music resolved the problem of temperament. Ach. Anyways, apparently Peter Rowan heard about the show I was doing at Caffe Lena on January the 13th, entitled "Celebrating a Century of Bill Monroe: A Mandolin Tribute to the Father of Bluegrass." Of course, the world probably had not heard much about Bill Monroe until he was in his twenties, so perhaps the title is a little misleading. But the event is meant to recognize the centennial of the man's birth by picking some of his music. Peter Rowan, and The Travelin McCourys, they must have heard we were doing this, because they're doing something similar. You can catch them up in Burlington VT on April 20th. Cool. Check this out if you'd like to learn some more about everything.
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The City Never Sleeps
Dave, Americana Tuesdays' awesome sound dude, has an awesome band. These guys have a kickstarter going. If you can do it, give the boys some love.
Hopefully you guys have tuned in to Howe Glassman's new radio show, The Fabulous Sounds. The show airs on Saturday nights on WEXT 97.7, at 10 pm. Tune in, turn on.
We all had an excellent time down to Americana Tuesdays last night. The Lost Radio Rounders did about an hour of folk and traditional music. They got lots of instruments. Then The Black Fox River Project did about an hour of original americana. They did two John Prine numbers too. Dan Johnson and his Expert Sidemen did about forty three and a half minutes of their original music. Enjoy, but save room for turkey.
Tonight we'll be down at Valentine's, w/ The Lost Radio Rounders and The Black Fox Creek Project. There's always tons of musicians and artists around, and it's a great place to meet people and make connections. Mention the blog and I'll let you in for a dollar.
We're working on booking some shows through the early spring right now. If you know anybody that might be a good fit for the Americana Tuesdays stage, or if there's someone you'd like us to bring back, send me an email at americana.music.club@gmail.com
We appreciate all the artists who spend so much time getting their art right, and then put all the work into booking shows and performing their music. Here's some of the artists we've hosted in the last year:
Woody Pines - The Blackwell Sinners - Michael Eck
MR Poulopoulos - Matt Durfee - Steve Gaylord - Flood Road The Woes - CB Smith and the Lucky Devils - Kyle Miller
JP Harris and the Tough Choices - Tern Rounders
Jim Gaudet and the Railroad Boys - Holly and Evan
Holy Ghost Tent Revival - The Red Haired Strangers
Henry's Rifle - Headband Jack - Vermont Joy Parade
The Ole Croken Stillers - The Black Fox River Project Eastbound Jesus - John Scarpulla - Festina Lente
Star Anna and the Laughing Dogs
Thanks sincerely from the Americana Music Club.
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Bill Johnson Tries to Read
(But Can't Seem to Do It)
Tonight is Americana Tuesdays' Thanksgiving Show. But we don't like to make a big deal out of these quasi-secular holidays, because we don't want to offend our quasi-religious base. Is this video weird or not?
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Poor Boy's Soul
Our friend from Portland (OR), Trever Jones, AKA Poor Boy's Soul, has released a new album. A very fine Christmas present.
Tomorrow night features some of the area's brightest and best. See you at Valentine's at 8 p.m.
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Turkeys
Thanksgiving is coming. You are either with us or against us.
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Joining a Band on the Internet
Craigslist has many opportunities for those looking to get involved with bands and sundry musical side jobs. Caveat emporium.
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Driving in Cars
Many of you may be driving in cars this week and weekend, on long trips or short ones. Here's something about people who drive a lot in cars and occasionally stop to play music. If anyone buys this, make me a copy because I'm too cheap and broke to buy it.
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The Folk Singer
Lastly, on the topic of movies, here's a trailer for a movie I'd really really love to see.
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“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” - Einstein
Eastbound Jesus is a bunch of dudes from upstate NY who make some great music. They've been working on a recording and I bet it's going to be awesome. Definitely check these guys out.
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Woody Pines meets Matthew McConaughey
(in New Orleans)
Woody Pines, two time Americana Tuesdays dude, was busking in New Orleans, when suddenly Matthew McConaughey strolled by with his kids. This picture is what the scene might have looked like. MM checked out Woody Pines' music for a bit and bought two CDs. The always generous Woody Pines gave his kids some stickers. Music makes a difference.
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Sam Bush at the Egg
I saw Sam Bush tonight. The show ended with progressive rock music (Laps in Seven) which was cool. In related news, Bush is nominated for Musician of the Year for mandolin by CMA. Go Sam! Love that guy.
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This Tuesday
This Tuesday, you can catch us at Valentine's with The Lost Radio Rounders and The Black Fox River Project. First comment gets in free.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Langhorne Slim Plans Eastern Tour
"Who is this dude?" This dude is known as Langhorne Slim. He come out of the NYC area a while ago and now lives in Portland, OR. He has a good band and has something to say. He'll be on the east coast again this spring. Look for him in early March.
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Saturday Morning Soapbox:
"Narrative in Song"
At some point narrative becomes to songwriting what harmonic structures are to jazz, and like the cats gone modal, the songwriters who want to get free let go of narrative.
Music is relative in nature; there is no isolation. So the writer, the improviser, starts anywhere, starts somewhere, and works from there. Whether the writer maintains this beginning as a starting point, or instead abandons it and works from a broader beginning, with a forsaken or broken narrative, defines the limits of the romantic.
The cracks in the song let the light in. The songs have abandoned the notion of authority and instead are delivered with a conversational, personal voice that makes assumptions of context on the listener. These assumptions have powerful influence on the understanding that the listener creates.
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Henry's Rifle is Planning a Southern Swing
Henry's Rifle is planning a tour. He's going way down south. Check this dude out. Buy his record or something.
http://www.reverbnation.com/henrysrifle
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"Think of it," said Dean. "One day he'll put a stone through a man's windshield and the man will crash and die — all on account of that little kid. You see what I mean? God exists without qualms. As we roll along this way 1 am positive beyond doubt that everything will be taken care of for us — that even you, as you drive, fearful of the wheel" (I hated to drive and drove carefully) — "the thing will go along of itself and you won't go off the road and I can sleep. Furthermore we know America, we're at home; I can go anywhere in America and get what I want because it's the same in every corner, I know the people, I know what they do. We give and take and go in the incredibly complicated sweetness zigzagging every side."
The Black Fox River Project features the music of Brad Towle, an Albany native, current Schoharie resident, and all around cool dude. I don't know why but his music reminds me of John Prine. Maybe it's the casual way he gets at big stuff. Anyways, check out this dude's music on Tuesday November 22, at Americana Tuesdays. Also appearing, The Lost Radio Rounders and host band Dan Johnson and his Expert Sidemen.
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Howard Glassman will soon be broadcasting live from WEXT. His program will be called "The Fabulous Sounds," and will premiere auspiciously on Thanksgiving Day, at 1 p.m., with a four hour extravaganza. The show is regularly scheduled for Saturdays, 10 p.m.-12 a.m. Tune in.
The Lost Radio Rounders are a duo from Albany, NY. They play all the old Carter family music and some other stuff too. They'll be at Americana Tuesdays on November 22nd.
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Americana in Europe
Vermont Joy Parade, Americana Music Club visitors, are currently on tour in Europe! Of all places. They say Europeans love Americana music. Wow. The Vermont guys were busking one day, when who should see them but a guy named Jared Leto. There's a picture of him above. My girlfriend loves him from My So Called Life. I like his outfit in this picture, taken in Paris. Leto has a band called 30 Seconds to Mars, and he asked the Vermont Joy Parade to join him on a stadium tour. Go Vermont people! Good job. They will be visiting the little old Americana Music Club again this spring we hope. Maybe they will bring Jared Leto.
http://vermontjoyparade.com/
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Deep Thoughts
"As Russell recalls it: 'I went to Miles's famous house on West Seventy-seventh Street and was about to ring the bell when I saw a sign on the door. It reads: "Don't push this bell. If you push this bell, it's war. I feel tired in my mind, I feel tired in my body; you can call me if you have something; you can call my business manager, but don't ring the bell!" I rang the bell anyway-no reply-but I took the sign with me." -George Russell, in Eric Nisenson's very fine text, The Making of Kind of Blue
Kyle Miller is a songwriter and guitarist from upstate NY. We've had him at Americana Tuesdays twice now. This song is an old song about loss and despair and babies and drowning.
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"No failure in America, whether of love or money, is ever simple; it is always a kind of betrayal, of a mass of shadowy, shared hopes... Within that failure is a very different America; it is an America of desolation, desolate because it is felt to be out of place, and it is here that Robert Johnson looked for his images and found them." - Marcus Greil, Mystery Train
The Blackwell Sinners @ Americana Tuesdays, February 22, 2011... We're bringing these guys back on December 13th... I remember sitting on the porch on Homestead Ave., watching the clouds roll in, and thinking about a Navajo blanket. High school can't last forever but we've got videos of the things we've done, and people are having babies to do it all over again for us.
"Why aren't we as smart when we wake up as we are in our dreams?" - Tom Robbins, Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas
"Anything which refers to the matter, even obliquely, is far from the mark. An incapacity for relevance is to be discovered as the muscle of salvation, but flexed and exercised as rarely as possible. The economy of desperation must be recognized. We don't need art that often. Now and then let Her step out of Her underwear. A little goes a long way." - Leonard Cohen, Book of Longing
"It was fortuitous that the records I got had this harmonica player, Yank Rachell, and Sleepy John Estes playing the mandolin. It was exotic in the same way that Turkish music is. I don't remember who the first hillbilly singers were I heard. I think I got into it through Irish music, in that same store where I was trying to get Romanian bagpipe records. You could get a lot of that sort of record in Oakland, California, by then. I went there for something else." - Harry Smith, Think of the Self Speaking
This is Preemptive Blessings, a duo out of Albany NY that uses loops and cool instruments like accordions and musical saws. Additionally, they opened up for Star Anna at a recent Americana Tuesdays. Wow. That is total coolness.
I once saw this band, and there was seventy cents or something in change on the stage, and this was a touring band, the headliners, and the guy was all like wow there’s like a dollar in change up here as he put it in his pocket. I smiled at him but I wasn’t laughing at him, because I knew. Yeah, I said to him. If it was easy everyone would do it. I’ve heard Memphis is tough. Try Mississippi maybe.
