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| New England Music Scrapbook News |
| February 7, 2004 Number 51 |
| Web Version |
Post-Last-Minute News
Berklee College of Music has a new president, and his last name isn't Berk. Lee Berk, after whom the school was named, is stepping down, to be replaced by entrepreneur and drummer Roger H. Brown. Larry Katz, in today's (Feb. 7) Boston Herald, gave this story the most extensive coverage.
Boston Herald article
There was also a fine piece by Joan Anderman in today's Boston Globe.
Boston Globe article
Both Sunday's (Feb. 8) Boston Globe and Boston Herald have features predicting who will win various Grammy Awards.
Boston Herald featureBoston Herald feature
The Globe's Steve Morse considered many categories and took a lot of factors into account, including sentiment. Larry Katz of the Herald, on the other hand, focused on just nine categories - and not necessarily those that are commonly thought to be the big ones. But he may have the edge on the humor front. Either way, these articles make for interesting reading.
Interesting coverage of the Grammy Awards in Monday's Boston Globe (Feb. 9).
Boston Globe notice
Award winners with New England connections ranged from Rounder Records, whose artists won four Grammys, to cellist Yo-Yo Ma, who had a stake in a Grammy for the album, Obrigado Brazil. Boston-born James Taylor split a Grammy with Rounder's Alison Krauss "for best country collaboration with vocals for 'How's the World Treating You." There's more. Why not check it out in Monday's Boston Globe (the link appears just above) or take a look at Larry Katz's view of the proceedings in Monday's Boston Herald.
Boston Herald notice
Loren King reported in Wednesday's Boston Globe that a very important New England cultural institution, the Boston Film and Video Foundation, is closing.
Boston Globe article
Film Shack, a for-profit Roxbury production company, will take over the BFVF's assets, including the New England Film and Video Festival. Robert Patton-Spruill, Film Shack's director, told King, "We are going to continue the BFVF's mission, which is so important to the city." Let's hope so.
A great many musicians are also involved in film and video, so this change hits a lot closer to home than it might seem at first look.
Post-Last-Minute News compiled by Alan Lewis
Laurie Jones
and Her Diverse Song Spectrum
Todd R. Nelson, evidently a Maine free-lancer, contributed an article about Laurie Jones to the January 16 Bangor Daily News.
www.lauriejones.org/bdn-01-04.htm
"On her new CD," wrote Nelson, "Jones' song spectrum is as diverse as the Beatles' White Album. Soaring vocals and witty lyrics ride atop glam-progressive rock-anthem hooks and even fiddle-driven Celtic punk. Jones has a chiming, spine-tingling timbre when she hits the sweet spot in her vocal register, which she does effortlessly even in live performance. She is backed by an energetic band that includes Steve Peer on drums, Neil Salisbury on guitar and Walter Howland on bass."
The Bangor Daily News feature makes Laurie Jones' music sound very interesting, and the article is well worth checking out.
Since then, we received this in a Laurie Jones mailing:
"Mark Your Calender: I received word last night that we will be playing at the National Folk Festival this year. (Hell yeah, I can be
Laurie Jones, "Say Goodbye to January," February 1, 2004
Merrie Amsterburg
Touring and Working on Her Next Project
When checking the site statistics for our Table of Contents pages, there is one thing that's a near constant. The search term that 'Net surfers use to find our
merrie amsterburg
Clearly there's a great deal of interest among our readers. So we checked in with Amsterburg to see whether she has any news. She has quite a bit, as it turns out; but we think the key phrase in what we received may be "working on her next project." Here's what came from the Merrie Amsterburg file:
"As you probably know, Merrie Amsterburg has been touring the country on and off over the past year with Patty Larkin, playing in her band (bass, bouzouki, mandolin) as well as opening for her shows. Merrie performed with Patty on PRI/NPR radio shows E-Town, Mountain Stage, World Cafe, and X-M Satellite's 'The Loft,' as well as the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. Merrie's duet lullaby with Susie Tallman (Hush Little Baby) was released nationally in 2003 on the Ellipsis Arts' American Lullaby compilation, to be distributed in various chain stores around the country (Wal-Mart, K-Mart, etc.); and once again did the national anthem for the Red Sox this past August. She's also been doing her own shows when her schedule allows. Merrie made guest appearances on Patty Larkin's 2003 CD Red=Luck (vocals & trumpet), Paul Bryan's 2004 release Handcuff King (vocals), and vocals on upcoming CDs by Kenny White and Jennifer Kimball.
"At the moment Merrie is working on her next project and will probably schedule shows in late spring."
Merrie Amsterburg, E-Mail Message, February 5, 2004
josh brooks
The expanse and influence of several family generations is woven into the fabric of Josh Brooks' songs. The long hours he spent listening to old country music with granny Lois Geraldine Barrows just before her passing was the catalyst for Better Days (CD, www.joshbrooks.com, 2003), his spirited and spiritual sophomore effort. The native of Panton, Vermont sat with "Meme," soaking up the dusty sounds of Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, George Jones, and Merle Haggard. During the previous year, Brooks had put his music career on the back burner after the birth of his first child, Adelaide.
"My wife's grandmother passed away right before we started recording, and that kind of brought things full circle," explained Brooks via email. "She taught me so much about faith, hope and love, especially in the way she was with my daughter. Most young kids made her nervous, but with Addie it was like she'd found some long-lost friend. I almost felt like Addie was her angel for the short time they knew each other, coming to tell her 'everything's great up there, so don't you worry.' So Better Days isn't just looking for hope in this life, but in whatever comes beyond."
Another familial link can be found on the cd's cover - an old, fuzzy black and white photo taken way-back-when by Lois of a Country and Western trio featuring Uncle "Cubby" Barrows. Meanwhile, the only musical support found on Better Days has a family tie. "When I decided I wanted to record again," said Brooks, "it was all dominoes - my mother-in-law married a drummer (Kent Blackmer). I heard the White Stripes and decided to steal their guitar/drums idea."
The record includes an homage to Brooks' Dad ("I'm Still Walking In My Father's Shoes") and a valentine to his daughter ("Sweet Adelaide") - but the most moving track is an unlisted one - "Gram's Song" ("On the hill there will be one less porch light shining/One less soul that knows the old Hank Williams songs").
Family is clearly the number one priority for Brooks. Like most first-timers, he had to adjust to added responsibilities of fatherhood. "It's getting harder for me to find the time. My daughter is two now and we've got another baby on the way and we just bought a house," he said. "I'm not a rambling gambling bohemian like a lot of my musical heroes were, so I can't devote all of my time to playing and writing, but I wouldn't trade my family for a million songs. Maybe two million."
Brooks, who lists Guy Clark and area favorite Fred Eaglesmith as inspirational live performers, has impressed concert-goers with his storytelling and sense of humor. "Well, when I started playing out I was really nervous, and when I get nervous I tend to ramble. This one show I did in Craftsbury, VT, I told some story about working at Wal-Mart and how my job was to gather up all the carts from the parking lot, and how one time on a dare I did it in nothing but my Wal-Mart apron. Well, this wasn't at all true, but it just kind of came out, and people thought it was hilarious. So I told the same story again at another show that week, lying through my teeth and getting a great response. So I've kind of developed a slogan that I use throughout my concerts: 'It's all true, except for the parts I make up. Honestly.'"
In an effort to balance the pull to be home, with his family, with his music-making, Brooks hopes to interest others in his compositions. "I've started making some inroads into Nashville. My ultimate goal is to sit on the front porch writing songs all day and then mailing the good ones off to my publisher. The only time I'd get up would be to play with my daughter and get the royalty check from the mailbox. And to eat."
In the interest of family harmony, Brooks has one more important goal. "I'd like to write a song for my Mom, 'cuz I've written two for my Dad and she might get jealous."
|
Parts of this column by Dave Madeloni were first published in our local
newspaper, Vermont's Brattleboro Reformer, on Thursday,
|
| Copyright © 2004 by Dave Madeloni. |
| All rights reserved. |
| Used with permission. |
Peter Rowan
at the Joe Val Bluegrass Festival
"From the genesis of jam-grass music 30 years ago with Jerry Garcia and Old and in the Way, to his recent soulful Kingston-goes-Appalachia experiment on the CD Reggaebilly, Rowan has personalized and expanded bluegrass with rare skill and vision." That's what Daniel Gewertz wrote in his introduction to this week's "Folk/Blues" column about Peter Rowan in Friday's Boston Herald.
Boston Herald column
Rowan hasn't resided in this region in a long while. I believe he was based in Texas for quite some time, and now Gewertz tells us Rowan's in San Francisco; but he has long been a big part of New England's folk and roots-music traditions. On February 14, Rowan will headline the Joe Val Bluegrass Festival at the Sheraton Hotel in Framingham, Massachusetts.
This week's "Folk/Blues" column by Daniel Gewertz is recommended reading.
Jeremy Harple
and His "Harple Sound"
Vermont's Jeremy Harple has issued a new album - a debut, if we understand this correctly - called simply Jeremy Harple (CD, self-released, [2003?]). In a highly quotable review, Robert Resnik of Seven Days (and Vermont Public Radio) wrote, "One of the best things about Harple's music is the already developed Harple sound - listen to this disc and you'll hear practically nothing that sounds like someone else."
www.sevendaysvt.com/musreviews.html
Not only have we never heard Jeremy Harple, we don't recall even having heard of him. So we think this qualifies as coming out of nowhere. We'll see what the new disc does for his career.
World-Famous Hanglows
"A Bloody Nose for the Establishment"
The World-Famous Hanglows have a new release, A Bloody Nose for the Establishment (CD, self-released, [2003?]). In his Seven Days review, music editor Ethan Covey summed up this way: "This is a totally ridiculous album, lacking in originality but a giddily fun, rousing listen." See how he could possibly write such a thing by visiting
www.sevendaysvt.com/musreviews.html
35th Parallel
at Burlington, Vermont's FlynnSpace
Recently in these pages, I sang the praises of a Vermont/New Hampshire band, the 35th Parallel, whose members are Gabe Halberg and Mac Ritchey. The 35th Parallel had an interesting concert last evening at FlynnSpace in Burlington, Vermont. When previewing that event, Ethan Covey of Seven Days wrote that "This culturally in-tune twosome mixes the oud and the tabla with electronic effects to achieve their world-class sound. This week, they join forces with Vermont jazz horn men Michael Chorney, Brian Boyes and Zach Tonnissen, formerly of viperHouse, and Middle Eastern percussionist Todd Roach."
That show must have been great.
It's most unfortunate that Tom Huntington's feature-length concert preview has not been posted on the Burlington (VT) Free Press Web site. At least I didn't find it. Hardcopy seems to be the only way to go at the moment, and of course most of our readers live well outside the Free Press' main circulation area.
We have the Free Press piece, Pamela Polston's record review from Seven Days, and, of course, our own review. The 35th Parallel's music is so novel that each writer went about describing it in entirely different ways, which I find interesting.
Evolocity
From Vermont to Arizona
Evolocity is a band out of Arizona; but at its heart are three former members of the '90s Burlington, Vermont band, Spill. Colin Clary, in the current Seven Days, described the band's music this way: "Evolocity play contemporary hard rock with nods to the grunge era à la Alice in Chains. It's polished, heavy desert rock that feels dusty and sweaty and sounds as clean and precise as modern chart-toppers such as Linkin Park." That quote comes from Seven Days' lead record review which may be found at
www.sevendaysvt.com/musreviews.html
Evolocity's new album is Helicoil (CD, Badluckbus Productions, [2003?]).
The Tarbox Ramblers
and the New "A Fix Back East" CD
The Boston band, the Tarbox Ramblers, has a new album, A Fix Back East. Evidently it compares quite favorably to the group's debut disc. In his "Cellars by Starlight" review, the Boston Phoenix's Ted Drozdowski spoke of "the nastier guitar tones that [Michael] Tarbox, who sings and plays six-string, gets out of the little amps that he turns up good and loud. His raw, grainy farmer's voice is also better recorded. Actually, everything is. And there's often a dreamy coating of reverb that ups the mystery and drama of his dark
Boston Phoenix column
"Towers of New London Vol. 3"
Kicking Up Serious Dust Once Again
There may be some form of neo-nostalgia in New London, Connecticut with the release of Towers of New London Vol. 3. Back in the early 1980s, New London's rock scene was hot. The band, The Reducers, and the club, the El'N'Gee, led the way. Towers of New London volumes 1 and 2 came out in 1985 and 1987 respectively. And now, after what seems like quite a long lull, Peter Detmold of the Reducers can say that the scene is "healthier than it's been in years." Kathleen Cei's feature-length notice in this week's New Haven Advocate has much to crow about.
Hartford Advocate notice
For those of us who know little about New London's rock community beyond the Reducers and the Rivergods, Cei's article is a real eye-opener.
The New Haven Advocate notice also includes this reminiscence from filmmaker Bill Dumas: "The New London music scene was just exploding in the early 80s. The El'n'Gee was our mecca. There were always great touring bands stopping in, sharing the bill with local bands. It was so exciting because it felt like we were living in one of the top music hotbeds in the country." I can say from my own memory that New London really was kicking up serious dust in those days.
Recommended reading.
Greg Wood
Mixing Folk Music and Punk Rock
Thomas Pizzola has an interesting piece about folk-punk performer Greg Wood in his "Local Motion" in this week's Hartford Advocate.
Hartford Advocate column
When comparing folk and punk, Pizzola wrote, "both are committed to the DiY aesthetic. Also, both claim to be music of the people, even if folkies and punkers have very different ideas on what constitutes 'music.' They both believe that they exist outside of the mainstream, giving people a true alternative to more commercial, and sometimes duller, forms of music." Pizzola judged that Greg Wood very well may be one of the local musicians who's best equipped to bring the worlds of folk music and punk rock together.
mark erelli
When we last heard from Mark Erelli, he was exploring his musical roots on his ambitious 2002 album, The Memorial Hall Recordings. That album, recorded in a 19th century stone hall in Monson, was a celebration of the spirit, music and traditions of old New England.
On his new album, Hillbilly Pilgrim (CD, Signature Sounds Recordings
Of course, Erelli isn't from Austin. He grew up in Reading, Mass. and launched his musical career in Northampton, where he resided for many years. The 29-year-old started writing songs and playing coffeehouses when he was in college. In 1999, he finished up his graduate studies and signed with Signature Sounds and already has released four albums, played over 500 concerts, and won widespread acclaim.
Fans of Erelli know that he has tossed in the occasional country tune on his previous discs, but they still may be surprised to find that he has written an entire album of songs that harken back to the country music of the '30s and '40s. "This album is definitely different for me, but it's a matter of degree. If you go back and listen to 'I'll Always Return' off the first record or 'Why Should I Cry' on Compass and Companion, all that stuff kind of hints at my love of this music," says Erelli who was calling from his home in Medford. "It always feels natural when I'm writing or singing in this vein and I've threatened over the years to make this kind of record. I finally amassed enough material to do it."
The timing was perfect in that Erelli wanted the follow-up to The Memorial Hall Recordings to be different. "Part of the different sound of this record was a conscious effort on my part to try and find a way to follow-up a record that was so multi-layered like the Memorial Hall record. I wanted something that couldn't be compared like apples to apples." Erelli doesn't have to worry about that, while Memorial Hall was a stark and serious album, Hillbilly Pilgrim is upbeat and playful.
With the exception of drummer Lorne Entress (who also co-produces), Erelli has brought in a new band called The Spurs to work with. "I was looking to work with different musicians this time just to change it up," says Erelli. "The Spurs are kind of the widely acknowledged underground kings of country music in the Boston music scene." From Rich Dubois' fine fiddle playing to Frankie Blandino's excellent steel guitar, the Spurs prove the perfect backing band for Erelli.
Erelli will celebrate the release of Hillbilly Pilgrim with a show at the Iron Horse in Northampton on Saturday, Jan 31 at 7 p.m. Members of the Spurs will be accompanying him at the Iron Horse show.
"This album is for the optimist in me that needs to cut loose and have fun every now and then," says Erelli about the new disc. Of course, Hillbilly Pilgrim does have its serious moments and one of the most serious songs reflects the singer's ties to Western Mass. The song is called "The Farewell Ball" and it explores one of the drowned towns of the Quabbin in its final days. "I am constantly looking for interesting, poignant stories that reflect my cultural history in New England," he says. "Not necessarily things that I went through but things that affect me in one way or another and the Quabbin Reservoir was one thing that I wanted to tackle." He went on to say that the song is basically a verbatim account of what happened in Enfield. They actually did have an event called the Farewell Ball at their town hall.
It's a sad song but there is plenty of light-hearted fare here. "Brand New Baby" is a fictionalized account of how Erelli met his wife, and "Let's Make a Family" addresses his desire to have children. Then there's his swinging duet with Erin McKeown called "Trouble."
Hillbilly Pilgrim was released on Jan. 20 and Erelli is getting ready to take to the road. He will remain in New England for the next couple of months and will do a handful of full band shows and then will bring these new songs to the rest of the country. Besides the concert at the Iron Horse this Saturday, Erelli will perform at the Calvin Theatre in Northampton on Feb. 25, when he opens for Nanci Griffith in a special show celebrating the Iron Horse's 25th Anniversary.
"I love playing Western Mass. more than any place that I've ever played so far, so it will be nice to come and perform a couple of different times," says Erelli. "I like having these local shows under my belt, knowing that I can go out and conquer the rest of the world once I've reunited with the people who understand what I do and have supported me all these years."
| Parts of this column by Sheryl Hunter were first published in the Greenfield Recorder, Greenfield, Massachusetts, on Thursday, January 29, 2004. |
| Copyright © 2004 by Sheryl Hunter. |
| All rights reserved. |
| Used with permission. |
|
Mark Erelli Hillbilly Pilgrim Signature Sounds Boston's Mark Erelli travels the folk circuit, but he tried a little C&W on 2002's Memorial Hall Recordings. His new Hillbilly Pilgrim is even more of a departure, as he and an excellent band venture much further into the worlds of Western swing, rockabilly, and traditional country. Erelli's direct and occasionally sentimental lyrics are a great match for this music, and his voice is equally well suited. The song "Troubadour Blues" - a rockabilly take on Western swing - sets the tone with the line, "All you need's a simple song, three chords, and the truth." The bittersweet "Farewell Ball" is a gem about the 1938 closing of the town of Enfield, which was soon after flooded by the waters of the new Quabbin Reservoir. "Troubles," a cover that sets hillbilly instruments to a rocking beat, eerily recalls early Bill Haley and the Comets, while the plaintive "My Best Was Just Not Good Enough for You" has a classic sound like Hank Williams's Drifting Cowboys. The hopping and playful "Ain't No Time of Year To Be Alone" is easily among Erelli's best album tracks. For folk fans, this disc may take some getting used to; but it's pleasures are many. Mark Erelli is at the Lizard Lounge on Feb. 6.
|
Mark Erelli: Short Item One
Donnie Moorhouse devoted a "LiveWire" column in the Springfield, Massachusetts Republican to Mark Erelli's Hillbilly Pilgrim (Jan. 29). In it he said that Erelli wrote "Troubadour Blues" after hearing a line in a Johnny Cash interview. Erelli told Moorhouse, "He said all he ever wanted to do was sing a simple song and tell the truth. I thought about that. It is the reason I continue to do what I do."
The www.masslive.com search engine could not locate Moorhouse's Mark Erelli column. Hardcopy hardcopy seems to be the only option.
Mark Erelli: Short Item Two
Speaking of Mark Erelli, in the Calendar section of Thursday's Boston Globe, Scott Alarik wrote, "An eloquent guitarist with an irresistible sense of melody, he loves to play in the vast sandbox of American roots styles. That has made it hard sometimes to identify his own artistic voice and vision. On his western-swinging new Signature Sounds CD, Hillbilly Pilgrim, his sandy and sly tenor is the tie that binds all this musical swashbuckling."
Mark Erelli: Short Item Three
Music journalism is normally event-driven, and one of the events that's most likely to generate some press is a record release. When it rains, sometimes it pours. Thus, in this week's "Cellars by Starlight" column in the Boston Phoenix, Ted Drozdowski, too, contributed an item about Mark Erelli.
Boston Phoenix column
In that piece, Drozdowski said that Hillbilly Pilgrim is led by Erelli's "faithful, zesty, funny, highly charged original takes on Western swing."
The Rockin' Ramrods
An Interview with Lenny Cirelli
We receive many e-mails about a 1960s Boston band, the Rockin' Ramrods. Up in Maine, I heard what may very well have been the last lineup of the Ramrods. After that, I heard a successor band, Puff, more times than any other group. That was at the Brewer Auditorium, and well do I remember how those guys took over the place. So I can say from personal experience that this was one fine
Luanne knows band member Lenny Cirelli and sent this link to an interview that he once gave.
www.60sgaragebands.com/pages/905754/index.htm
It's very interesting.
The Ramrods, under the original name the Ramrods Four, got its start in 1962, which is before the great majority of Boston's best-known '60s bands got going. So this group is a huge part of our background.
It would be well worth finding time for the Lenny Cirelli interview; and while that piece is as far as I've gotten so far, Luanne tells me there are other interesting related items at the same site. It seems to me she mentioned the Mods for one.
Happy
Pete Weiss
Ventures North into Vermont
Talk about music news that's local! We received this item and lots more from Pete Weiss:
"Work continues on building the new recording studio in Vermont. Guest rooms/kitchen are about done, and a plan exists for the addition of a live room. It's gonna be nice! The Neve board was taken out of Zippah and trucked up to Vermont, where it's awaiting a thorough re-capping (that's tech-talk for replacing aging capacitors) before being re-commissioned in the Vermont studio sometime this spring or summer."
Pete Weiss, "PW Production Newsletter #14," February 2, 2004
Pete Weiss' new studio is actually not so very far from where I am. There has been a lot of music activity here in Southern Vermont and nearby parts of New Hampshire and Massachusetts lately. Weiss' studio will be a great addition.
Gaiah
"Through This Nightmare"
I go back about a quarter of a century with the Valley Advocate, and I've been finding it to be pretty strange reading in recent years. Mercifully, Gary Carra's "Nightcrawler" column is well written and provides broad coverage of the Pioneer Valley's music community. This week's column covers a fast-rising band, Gaiah.
Valley Advocate column
Gaiah has a new recording called Through This Nightmare, and evidently it's quite good. We've never heard this outfit; but Carra's reference to "the band's clean, ambient metal sound" gives an idea of what to expect. Carra added this from lyricist Shawn Santanello: "You gotta sing what you feel and feel what you sing. I approach that in different
Gaiah won the "People's Choice" award in the Valley Advocate's 2003 Grand Band Slam, according to Carra. That's quite an achievement, when one considers that, at the time, the group was in its first year of existence.
allen devine
Allen Devine has played in a host of Boston-area bands over the years. Notable among them was a mid-to-late-'90s outfit, the Stardarts, which was fronted by David Minehan, formerly of the long-running Neighborhoods. Devine, as a guitarist, lists influences ranging from Les Paul to Jeff Beck, and I hear more than a little of the Ventures. He made a splash around Boston with his debut solo album, Mishap (CD, DEVdisc, 2002).
The new disc, Hmmm . . . , takes its name from an expression that shows up mighty often in Devine's e-mails. Like its predecessor,
Devine makes heavy use of repetition. On certain tracks, if the bass line or the principal guitar line isn't drilled into your head by the time the music's over, you may want to get your hearing checked. It all works just fine, though, since these performances are not overly long. Subtle variations occur when other instruments chime in; and, from his strings, Devine manages to coax noises that are similar to more conventional, non-musical sound effects.
"Loungette" contrasts nicely with other cuts, having a sound that brings to mind slow, pretty rock instrumentals from around 1960. It could easily fit in on the soundtrack of a period movie such as La Bamba. My own favorites are the more subtle tunes, especially "Moon Swing," which starts somewhere between Fab Four-era George Harrison, on the one hand, and country picking, on the other, and ends, following a partial fadeout, with a near-industrial sound. Quite different is "Spontaneous," the opening track, which sounds like it could easily be theme music for an old-time network television drama. "Spontaneous" creates a neat effect by allowing the main, up-front riff to fade, leaving quieter instruments to pick up and improvise on the main theme or even to introduce melodic notions that are entirely new. That cut ends with an intriguing, Beatles-like use of channel separation.
Both of Allen Devine's CDs make for great listening. Of the two so far,
| Copyright © 2004 by Alan Lewis. |
| All rights reserved. |
| Used with permission. |
Patrick Fitzsimmons
From Rock Drummer to Singer-Songwriter
Through a happy case of mistaken identity, we were put in touch with Vermont singer-songwriter Patrick Fitzsimmons. Right after that, Charlie Hunter of Flying Under Radar sent this, so the timing seems auspicious.
"Patrick Fitzsimmons has the kind of success story we like. He got to be a
"He's put out two solo cds since The Move, The Changing and Dance. Both are gorgeous, melodic works - the guy can write a song and he can sing. You'll hear shades of Nick Drake and Michael Stipe in the vocals, a wonderful melodic sense and crisp, understated production. His music has become a favorite on Robert Resnik's folk show on WVPR, and he's started to build a following in the region. This will be Patrick's fourth appearance at Oona's, and we're proud to welcome him back."
"Patrick Fitzsimmons in Bellows Falls....", February 4, 2004
Brief Items
Gary Carra does a great job of covering music in the Pioneer Valley via his weekly "Nightcrawler" column in the Valley Advocate, where we got this nugget:
"[C]ongratulations to Springfield's Theodore's for doing nothing less than being named Best Blues Club in the Country by the Keeping the Blues Alive (KBA) Foundation."
Valley Advocate column
Woo woo!
"Keep an eye out for a bunch of music to be released from [Mark] Cutler over the next few months (in different incarnations)," wrote Bob Gulla in his Providence Phoenix column this week.
Boston Phoenix column
Sheryl Hunter thought to include the latest Fountains of Wayne album, Welcome Interstate Managers, among her 2003 Top 10 picks for the Pioneer Valley on the strength of band member Chris Collingwood's residence in Northampton. So we'll follow up with this link
Boston Herald feature
to a Sarah Rodman item in Friday's Boston Herald written in connection with Fountains of Wayne's Grammy nomination in the "Best New Artist" category.
The www.walthamtheband.com crew sent this:
"Our [Waltham's] new DVD is now available at Newbury Comics as well as our shows and website."
"Waltham Boston Show Friday Night," February 4, 2004
We received this from Vermont's Patti Casey in connection with an upcoming performance with the Bluegrass Gospel Project at the Joe Val Bluegrass Festival:
" . . . i'll be performing with the bluegrass gospel project in framingham MA on feb 14 and 15 at the 19th annual joe val bluegrass festival (put on by the boston bluegrass union). the festival is at the sheraton framingham, and we perform at 1:15pm on saturday and 10:50am on sunday. we're also doing a spot on WUMB at noon on friday, 2/13."
Patti Casey, E-Mail Message, January 31, 2004
The Bluegrass Gospel Project has an appearance at the First Congregational Church in Burlington this evening to benefit Volunteer Vermont. "Bluegrass Gospel Project dropped one of the hottest local albums of '03, the energetic and inspired On Our Way Home," wrote Ethan Covey in this week's Seven Days when previewing the show. "With a sound that mixes bluegrass, gospel, traditional Appalachian twang and delicious harmonies, the group plays music that is at once achingly familiar and entirely new."
www.sevendaysvt.com/m.clubs.html
If you're looking for a spot to unwind in Boston, the Globe's Steve Morse has a place for you. It's called Sanctuary.
Boston Globe column
"If you can't relax at Sanctuary, you just can't relax," wrote Morse in the Calendar section of Thursday's paper. Do check it out.
We received this from New Hampshire's novel bluegrass band, High Range:
"High Range is gearing up for a week-long midwinter tour to Tennessee and North Carolina in February and March. Stay tuned to www.highrangeband.com for upcoming information on where they'll be playing."
High Range, "February 2004," January 30, 2004
Vermont's Gregory Douglass sent this:
"It was just announced that I am a semi-finalist in the 2004 International Songwriting Competition for 'Hard'! Check it out at
http://www.songwritingcompetition.com/winners.htm"
Gregory Douglass, "February 2004 Newsletter," February 3, 2004
Sheryl Hunter makes frequent favorable references to the People's Pint in Greenfield, Massachusetts.
Valley Advocate column
So we know it as a music club. But a feature in this week's Valley Advocate, under the "Food Fanatic" heading, treats it as an eatery. If you live near Greenfield or visit there from time to time, chances are pretty good you'll want to check out the Valley Advocate piece.
Here is an excerpt from a short item that ran toward the end of Bob Gulla's column in this week's Providence Phoenix:
"On Saturday at Jarrod's Place in Attleboro, Massachusetts, you can join Mastamindz as they make a video of their best tune, 'Only If You Want It.' Admission is $8 at the door."
Providence Phoenix column
Brief Items Compiled by Alan Lewis
Issue 2004:51
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Popular music,
with a |
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