FolkBlog

Manny Ramirez just got gunned down at the plate on a contact play, and the Israel-Palestinian negotiations are breaking down in predictable ways on The West Wing, and the SwiftVets For Truth (an oxymoron if I’ve ever heard one), are spouting off during commercial breaks. This election cannot be over soon enough.

Now 3-0 Sox on TV1, and Leo has just arrived at Camp David on TV2.

The new Eddie From Ohio CD, This is Me, is growing on me. On first listen, what struck me the most was how much more polished the production is on this record than on their more recent releases, clearly the result of working with Lloyd Maines. Now I’m past the production and listening to the songs, which are all new to me since I haven’t seen them in ages.

**Does the world really need either a remake of Alfie with Jude Law or the Saturday Night Live edition of Trivial Pursuit?**

Sorry, back to EFO. There are some really strong songs on this CD. “Horse” cracks me up because it’s extremely true and good advice - don’t fall in love with a woman in love with a horse if you aren’t willing to take second place. “Walk Humbly Son” is another in a long line of classic EFO vocal harmony pieces. “Fly” is a cute tune about a young child who compensates for physical problems with an overactive imagination. “Independence, Indiana” is a ballad about a small town adolescent tasting a little bit of freedom and watching her friends leave town. By turns, this group can be hilarious and poignant. They are the total package. I really hope this is the one that puts them over the top.

Holy crimony, Leo just resigned! And Bartlett accepted his resignation. This is just flat out wrong. Leo - dead? That’s even more wrong if it’s true. Leo deserves better. Bring back Aaron Sorkin, please, I beg you!

Diamond Cam is awful. Fox must be stopped before they broadcast baseball ever again. And somebody, please gag Tim McCarver.

The executors of Roy Orbison’s estate should be ashamed of selling out to Target. If not them, then whoever sold Roy out to Target. It’s a shame that we don’t put people in stocks in the public square anymore.

Okay, back to new adds. I got a pre-release copy of the new Alison Krauss and Union Station;s newest, Lonely Runs Both Ways, and it’s consistently strong, as one would expect from a great band at the top of their game. The album’s closer, “A Living Prayer”, written by band member Ron Block, is an exquisite gospel number. Alison Krauss gets better as a vocalist with each passing album, singing with more passion and vocal control - her vibrato on long notes isn’t quite as wide as on her earlier works - or at least it sounds that way to me. Auxiliary vocalist Dan Tymanski gets to rip through songs by Del McCoury and Woody Guthrie with the full bluegrass treatment and the treat of Krauss on fiddle. The instrumental breakdown, “Unionhouse Branch” really shows off their tight ensemble playing, but particularly Krauss’ fiddle. It’s easy to hear her sing and get lost in that voice and forget what a truly outstanding fiddler she is.

Steve Blackwell and Friends is a folk group out of the Punta Gorda, Florida area. The best CDs I get from local folk groups or musicians are those that are rooted in their place, and their CD And So it Grows tells several local stories that ought to be told, including stories about local civil rights activists, folk musicians, plume hunters, folklorists, and a local Native American who was a Vietnam War veteran. This is an excellent collection of well-told stories about interesting people and places.

Somewhere between The Lonesome Jubilee and Big Daddy, I stopped buying John Mellencamp CDs. I suppose that was about the time I also stopped listening to rock and roll radio and started listening to other musical outlets. That was a shame, because I just picked up Words and Music: John Mellencamp’s Greatist Hits, a 2-CD collection chock full of great songs, and I’ve been missing out on some great tunes for the last 15 years. Having not really heard much of his output from the 90s and beyond, I guess I was surprised by the quality of his recent work. I shouldn’t have been, given the quality of his work from the 80s.

It’s the 7th inning stretch and some twangy singer I’ve never heard of before is singing the substitute auxiliary national anthem, “God Bless America”. Am I the only person who thinks that it would not be any less patriotic or disrespectful of the troops to sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” instead? I’m just asking.

Where was this version of Derek Lowe when I drafted him in the Far Away Worlds fantasy baseball league? He and Bartolo Colon together wrecked my pitching staff like a ‘76 Ford Granada at a county fair demolition derby.

I guess I’d like to feel sorry for the Cardinals fans, but I can’t. Sometimes the other guys are the Team O’Destiny and your team is not, and you just have to accept that and move on. You had the Rams a few years ago to be your Team O’Destiny. If you are a Cleveland fan, it is your unfortunate lot that the other team will always be the Team O’Destiny. At least a professional sports team from your city has won a championship within the last decade.

Pujols is truly underrated as a defensive player, as he saves another run in the eighth with his glove.

Canadian singer/songwriter Jory Nash’s Spaz Loves Weezie is a pleasant if occasionally vague CD of acoustic blues flavored folk. When the songs work for me, like “When Summer Comes” and “The Conversion of Pearl Hart”, this is truly outstanding work. However, some of the songs seem vague and stream of consciousness and are difficult to follow. They all sound good, though.

Nadine Goellner has a really outstanding voice and sings the heck out of everything on Sing It To Me Anyway, a collection of soul-inflected singer/songwriter tunes. By the end of the CD, I was kind of wishing she wasn’t trying so hard to sing the heck out of everything, and that maybe she would have been better served if she had let her foot off the pedal a little bit and let some of the songs breathe a little bit more. Don’t get me wrong - this is a really fine CD, with some really crisp ensemble playing, and Nadine Goellner’s voice is an impressive instrument. There is not, however, much subtlety here at all. This is an artist with huge talent and potential, and I can’t wait to hear what she can do when she’s learned that she doesn’t have to belt everything out.

And we go to the bottom of the 9th. It gives me great pleasure to watch Edgar Renteria ground out tamely to the pitcher to make the last out, considering that he was the guy who beat the Indians in Game 7 in the ‘97 World Series. Let the parties commence in Red Sox Nation.

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