Now Playing on Festival Radio
Tuesday, August 03, 2004
Richard Thompson, Laura Love, Pierce Pettis and more
I know Richard Thompson has a long-established connection to traditional music of the UK through Fairport Convention, but still, I wonder whether about the irish connection and him being booked by the Dublin (Ohio) Irish Festival. I'm not complaining, mind you, and I'll be as close to the stage as I can get, but still I wonder. Thompson has a scorching new live cd out from the archives, Faithless, recorded in 1985. It's worth tracking down. A lot of other great performers as well, including Tempest, Danu, Wolfstone, local band Knot Fibb'n, The Prodigals, The Saw Doctors, Gaelic Storm. So, since I'm pumped about seeing Richard Thompson, I'm serving him to the OFF listeners all week as the featured artist this week.
Other New Adds
Laura Love has a new CD, You Ain't Got No Easter Clothes, a companion volume to a simultaneously released memoir of the same name about growing up poor and African-American in small town Nebraska. This is the first I've heard of Laura Love, and I like it a lot. It's funky folk, with a little bit of an edge, including an attempt at an Afropop feel for one song. Very nice cover of the Stephen Foster's "Hard Times."
Liz Carlisle is an up-and-coming singer/songwriter who has produced an album that's remarkably good for someone who's only 20 years old. Half and Half, which refers to the influences of both her native Montana and her current home, Boston, is a good mix of smart originals and a well-sung cover of the traditional "The Water is Wide."
Pierce Pettis has a new CD out. Finally. It's been worth the wait, as it always seems to be whenever Pettis records. This album has a more acoustic feel than his recent CDs, which have tended to be produced with more of a pop music sensibility, and the songs benefit from the breathing room, especially the now-standard Mark Heard cover which opens the CD, "Another Day in Limbo." Other standout tracks include "Leonardo", a ballad about Da Vinci, and "Alabama 1959," a snapshot of growing up in the segregated South.
Occasionally, I get a worthwhile CD out of the blue from a band I've never heard of before. It's even more fun if it has a customs sticker on it. The Queensberry Rules, from the UK, has a pleasant acoustic sound, and well-crafted songs about life and change in Staffordshire, particularly about the globalization of traditional trades such as pottery. I never knew what a sagger maker's bottom knocker was before, and now I do. If you're interested in finding out, listen for the song on the Online Folk Festival, or better yet, pick up their new CD, Heritage and History.
Sandy Cash apparently has been the most popular English singer/songwriter in Israel for quite some time. After listening to A Thing So Real, I can see why. Her songs are full of wit, humor, and grace, and she has a rich voice. If you like Christine Lavin, you should check out Sandy Cash.
Carla Ulbrich has a new CD of creative song parodies about encounters with the medical profession, punnily titled Sick Humor. Parodies included are of Willie Nelson, Tommy Tutone, the Pretenders, Huey Lewis and the News, and herself. Very funny, with occasional bathroom humor (and I literally mean bathroom humor). I used to tape Doctor Demento shows when I was in junior high, so this is right up my alley.
(On a related note, the summer we went out west (1979?), three boys, my parents and a gold 1976 Chevy Impala staion wagon hauling a pop-up trailer through a heat wave, we had a tape we made from the Dr. Demento show that we played in the car over and over and over and sang along with. "Dead puppies! Dead puppies! Dead puppies aren't much fun! Everybody sing along, okay!" The fact that my brothers and I were allowed to survive this trip is a testament to my parents' love for us and their sense of humor. )
Other New Adds
Laura Love has a new CD, You Ain't Got No Easter Clothes, a companion volume to a simultaneously released memoir of the same name about growing up poor and African-American in small town Nebraska. This is the first I've heard of Laura Love, and I like it a lot. It's funky folk, with a little bit of an edge, including an attempt at an Afropop feel for one song. Very nice cover of the Stephen Foster's "Hard Times."
Liz Carlisle is an up-and-coming singer/songwriter who has produced an album that's remarkably good for someone who's only 20 years old. Half and Half, which refers to the influences of both her native Montana and her current home, Boston, is a good mix of smart originals and a well-sung cover of the traditional "The Water is Wide."
Pierce Pettis has a new CD out. Finally. It's been worth the wait, as it always seems to be whenever Pettis records. This album has a more acoustic feel than his recent CDs, which have tended to be produced with more of a pop music sensibility, and the songs benefit from the breathing room, especially the now-standard Mark Heard cover which opens the CD, "Another Day in Limbo." Other standout tracks include "Leonardo", a ballad about Da Vinci, and "Alabama 1959," a snapshot of growing up in the segregated South.
Occasionally, I get a worthwhile CD out of the blue from a band I've never heard of before. It's even more fun if it has a customs sticker on it. The Queensberry Rules, from the UK, has a pleasant acoustic sound, and well-crafted songs about life and change in Staffordshire, particularly about the globalization of traditional trades such as pottery. I never knew what a sagger maker's bottom knocker was before, and now I do. If you're interested in finding out, listen for the song on the Online Folk Festival, or better yet, pick up their new CD, Heritage and History.
Sandy Cash apparently has been the most popular English singer/songwriter in Israel for quite some time. After listening to A Thing So Real, I can see why. Her songs are full of wit, humor, and grace, and she has a rich voice. If you like Christine Lavin, you should check out Sandy Cash.
Carla Ulbrich has a new CD of creative song parodies about encounters with the medical profession, punnily titled Sick Humor. Parodies included are of Willie Nelson, Tommy Tutone, the Pretenders, Huey Lewis and the News, and herself. Very funny, with occasional bathroom humor (and I literally mean bathroom humor). I used to tape Doctor Demento shows when I was in junior high, so this is right up my alley.
(On a related note, the summer we went out west (1979?), three boys, my parents and a gold 1976 Chevy Impala staion wagon hauling a pop-up trailer through a heat wave, we had a tape we made from the Dr. Demento show that we played in the car over and over and over and sang along with. "Dead puppies! Dead puppies! Dead puppies aren't much fun! Everybody sing along, okay!" The fact that my brothers and I were allowed to survive this trip is a testament to my parents' love for us and their sense of humor. )
