ujdmc communion... sharing sounds i heard: January 2008

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Front Porch Concert

Last night's Front Porch Concert was absolutely a blast! Paducah, KY based Bawn in the Mash opened the night up for the Peter Rowan and Tony Rice Unit. I'll post more on the concert later but we learned quite a bit behind the scenes.

Adam Steffey will be joining Dan Tyminski for Tyminski's solo act this summer and Barry Bales will be playing bass. With Alison Krauss spending more time at home with her son this free's up time for Tyminski and Bales to try something new.
Mark Schatz will be touring with Claire Lynch this summer.
Bawn in the Mash will be finishing up their new album soon... they hope. I also found out just how much Barry Manilow, Donna Fargo and Narvell Felts have influenced the "Mashers". Also, Alex Faught has left the band and has moved to Colorado. The band is currently playing banjo-free. The Simpsons theme-song on the Xylophone was off the hook!
The news of the night was delivered by Josh Williams who joined us on stage. Josh will include two locals in his Josh Williams Band including Clayton Campbell on fiddle who is currently working with the Gibson Brothers and Jason McKendree on banjo. There is a fourth and of course I can't remember who it is but I will get that info passed along as well. The great thing about this lineup is the versatility of those already mentioned. All three can play multiple instruments which will make for some interesting arrangements on stage and in the studio.

My wife took over 500 photo's with her medium format camera and there are some great ones. We'll be sharing as soon as she gets them processed, edited and categorized.

Thanks to the 900+ folks who showed up and shared the night with us!

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Punch Brothers New Album

The Punch Brothers new album will hit the shelves February 28, 2008. The band signed with Nonesuch Records for this release and the new album will include (but not limited to) Thile’s four-movement composition, The Blind Leaving the Blind, which the band performed at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall earlier this year, as part of label-mate John Adams’ In Your Ear festival. Thile’s solo records and collaborations also will be released by Nonesuch, beginning with an album with composer/bassist Edgar Meyer later in 2008.

The band is currently on a European tour but will return February 13 to begin their US tour. The dates so far are:

Feb 13 7:30P Higher Ground Burlington, Vermont
Feb 14 7:30P Lebanon Opera House Lebanon, New Hampshire
Feb 15 7:30P The Strand Theatre Rockland, Maine
Feb 16 8:00P Stone Mountain Arts Center Brownfield, Maine
Feb 17 7:30P The Swyer Theatre at the Egg Albany, New York
Feb 20 8:30P The Allen Room at Time Warner Center New York, New York
Feb 22 10:30P Wintergrass Music Festival Tacoma, Washington
Feb 23 7:00P The Independent San Francisco, California
Feb 23 10:00P The Independent San Francisco, California
Feb 25 7:30P Sierra Nevada Tap Room Chico, California
Feb 27 8:00P Belly Up Tavern Solana Beach, California
Feb 28 7:30P Troubadour Los Angeles, California
Mar 1 9:00P Soho Restaurant & Music Club Santa Barbara, California
Mar 6 8:00P Buskirk-Chumley Theatre Bloomington, Indiana
Mar 7 8:00P Southern Theatre Columbus, Ohio
Mar 9 7:30P Clemons Fine Arts Center Paducah, Kentucky
Mar 27 8:00P Grey Eagle Tavern & Music Hall Asheville, North Carolina
Mar 28 8:00P Carolina Theatre Greensboro, North Carolina
Mar 29 8:00P The Clayton Center Clayton, North Carolina
Mar 30 7:00P North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center (McGlohon Theatre at Spirit Square) Charlotte, North Carolina
Apr 2 8:00P The Kent Stage Kent, Ohio
Apr 3 7:30P Seton Performance Hall Cincinnati, Ohio
Apr 5 8:00P Gild Hall Arden, Delaware
Apr 6 8:00P Shubert Theater New Haven, Connecticut
Apr 9 6:30P Rams Head On Stage Annapolis, Maryland
Apr 9 9:30P Rams Head On Stage LATE SHOW Annapolis, Maryland
May 25 8:00P Delfest Cumberland, Maryland

You can get a taste of the music from the upcoming CD on Reverb Nation where one track, Punchbowl, can be previewed online.

Here is a selection from "The Blind Leading the Blind" which is the piece that the new album will center around.

TONIGHT AT LOVETT IN MURRAY, KY

The Peter Rowan and Tony Rice Quartet will be joined by Bawn in the Mash tonight at Lovett Auditorium in Murray, KY. Doors open at 6 and music starts at 7. If you are in the area don't miss this show!

This week on the Porch 01-12-08 (Third Hour)

Alexi Murdoch
"All My Days"
Time Without Consequence
Zero Summer 2006
www.aleximurdoch.com

OK, Alexi's music has appeared on the hit (and atrociously cheesy... in my opinion) TV show The OC, but I am not going to hold that against him. I mean he could have jumped right on that big-label, overy-hyped music marketing engine and rode off with a truck full of money. Instead, the Scottish singer/songwriter self-released hi debut album Time Without Consequence. This album is probably best summed up as a delicate folk-pop release but it isn't prententious and begs for many replays on your stereo. The guy knows how to write a song that has amazing melody, catchy rhythym and interesting storylines.

Lori McKenna
"Jealousy"
The Kitchen Tapes
Gyrex 2004
www.lorimckenna.com

Rani Arbo & Daisi Mayhem
"Red Rocking Chair"
Gambling Eden
Signature 2003
www.raniarbo.com

Here is a taste of Rani Arbo...

The Dappled Grays
"Night Life"
Doin My Job
Band Ranch 2007
www.dappledgraysmusic.com

Grada
"The Gammel Dansk"
Cloudy Day Nation
Compass 2007
www.gradamusic.com

Jim Lauderdale
"High Timberline"
Headed For the Hills
Dualtone 2004
www.jimlauderdale.com

Various
"Telluride"
100% Handmade Bluegrass
Acoustic Disc 2004

The Hunger Mountain Boys
"Departure Day"
Three
Old-Fi Records 2007
www.hungermountainboys.com

The Byrds
"Pretty Boy Floyd"
Sweetheart of the Rodeo
Columbia 1968

Check out this video of The Byrds playing You Ain't Going Nowhere with Earl Scruggs.

Bela Fleck
"Deviation"
Deviation
Rounder 1984
www.belafleck.com

Chris Thile
"Dead Leaves & The Dirty Ground"
How to Grow a Woman From the Ground
Sugar Hill 2006
www.christhile.com

Thile's new band The Punch Brothers album will be released February 28, 2008 and you can catch them live in Paducah, KY at the Clemons Fine Arts Center on March 9. More info at http://focus.westkentucky.kctcs.edu/CampusSeries.shtml#Chris

Eilen Jewell
"Rich Man's World"
Letters From Sinners & Strangers
Signature 2007
www.eilenjewell.com

Van Morrison
"My Buckets Got A Hole In It"
Pay the Devil
Lost Highway 2006
www.vanmorrison.co.uk

Jim Hurst
"Swamp Reed"
Open Window
NN Guido 2005
www.jimhurst.com

Phil Ochs
"I Ain't Marching Anymore"
I Ain't Marching Anymore
Hannibal 1965

Phil Ochs called himself the "singing journalist" and that term and his devotion to the political causes he sang about acted as a barrier to his popularity... not that Ochs cared.

Ochs lived in the shadow of Bob Dylan but his music never took a backseat to the folk legend. His music arguably carried a better melodic feel than Dylan and his lyrics were as innovative as anyone at the time. Ochs truly believed in what he sang and his career may have taken a beating for it. Even though there were times when protest songs were the rage that came to pass but Ochs couldn't let go and depression followed. His bout with mental issues ended in 1976 as he was found hanging at his sister's home in Queens, NY. If you allow yourself to look past the message in Ochs music (if you feel you have to) you will find one of the best song craftsmen in folk music history.

The Weary Boys
"Kneeling Drunkards Plea"
Good Times
2003... out of print
www.thewearyboys.com

Rob Ickes
"Stanford & Son"
What it IS
Rounder 2002
www.robickes.com

Sunday, January 13, 2008

This week on the Porch 01-12-08 (Second Hour)

The Del McCoury Band
"I'm Lonely For My Only"
A Deeper Shade of Blue
Rounder 1993
www.delmccouryband.com

This is my favorite McCoury Band album, a great example of how the blues rules bluegrass! If you didn't know, McCoury actually got his start in bluegrass in Glen Rock, PA where he played 5-string banjo with Keith Daniels & the Blue Ridge Ramblers. His family had moved there when he was 2 from his birthplace of Bakersville, NC. It wasn't until McCoury joined Bill Monroe's band in 1963 that he took up rhythm guitar.

Patty Loveless
"Pretty Little Miss"
Mountain Soul
Epic 2001
www.pattyloveless.com

Crooked Still
"Little Sadie"
Shaken By A Low Sound
Signature Sounds 2006
www.crookedstill.com

Crooked Still is currently in the studio in Shokan, NY finishing up a new album. You can keep up with the progress at www.playthebassdrivethebus.blogspot.com. Here is a fairly decent video of the band performing Little Sadie.

Gillian Welch
"Red Clay Halo"
Time (The Revelator)
Acony 2001
www.gillianwelch.com

Free Range Pickin
"Pastor Flaps"
Free Range Pickin
Driving 2004
www.freerangepickin.com/

This Minneapolis based band is saying they will have their new CD Flight Risk completed and ready for release very soon!

Doc Watson
"Gambler's Yodel"
Ballads From Deep Gap
Vanguard 1967

Norman Blake
"Billy Gray"
The Fields of November/Old and New (A double album)
Flying Fish 1992

No Speed Limit
"Hometown"
Sweet Virginia
Arhoolie 2006
www.nospeedlimitband.com

Tim O'Brien
"I've Endured"
Traveler
Sugar Hill 2003

Tim O'Brien
"Land's End - Chasing Talon"
Fiddler's Green
www.timobrien.net
Sugar Hill 2005

Here is a video of Tim O'Brien playing with Nickel Creek and Bela Fleck at the last Nickel Creek show of their Farewell For Now Tour at the Ryman in Nashville. I was lucky enough to have been at this great night of music!

Steve Gulley
"Livin' It Down"
Sounds Like Home
Lonesome Day 2007
www.stevegulley.com

Former lead singer of Mountain Heart and leader of the new trio Grasstowne, Steve Gulley steps out for a solo project that includes most of the Mountain Heart lineup including fiddler Jim VanCleve, mandolin player Adam Steffey and bassist Jason Moore. This is a pure bluegrass endeavor that is a welcome addition to anyone's library.

The Gibson Brothers
"Don't Forget the Coffee, Billy Joe"
Bona Fide
Sugar Hill 2003
www.gibsonbrothers.com

Uncle Earl
"The Last Goodbye"
Waterloo, Tennessee
Rounder 2007
www.uncleearl.net

New Grass Revival
"County Clare"
and
"One Love - People Get Ready"
On the Boulevard
Sugar Hill 1984

The Stanley Brothers
"Bound to Ride"
An Evening Long Ago - Live 1956
DMZ/Columbia/Legacy 2004

Some of the recordings on this Stanley album are first-time releases and present the Stanley Brother in a laid-back and at-ease environment. There's country and bluegrass mixed in with old folk ballads. A number of these tracks are the only available live versions of these Stanley songs. This album also represents some of the best production available of Stanley Brothers material from this time period. If you are a Stanley Brothers fan then you surely will want to add this to your collection.

Peter Ostroushko
"Montenegro"
Postcards
Red House 2006
www.peterostroushko.com

This week on the Porch 01-12-08 (First Hour)

My first show of 2008 is also my last before Peter Rowan and Tony Rice come to town on Saturday, January 19 to perform at Lovett Auditorium here at Murray State University. It is our yearly Front Porch concert and Bawn in the Mash opens the night off at 7:00 PM. There is a chance that Josh Williams may be joining us if his schedule permits.

Having said all that I opened the first hour with music from Rowan, Rice and Bawn in the Mash.

HOUR 1

Tony Rice
"On and On"
Plays and Sings Bluegrass
Rounder 1993
www.tonyrice.com

The Bluegrass Album Band
"Age"
The Bluegrass Album, Vol. 4
Rounder 1984

Bawn in the Mash
"At the Hotel Irving Cobb"
Welcome to the Atomic City
indie 2006

Bawn in the Mash
"Helpless"
"Big Poppa Reel"
Hurry Up and Wait
indie 2007
bawninthemash.com

Bill Monroe & His Bluegrass Boys
"Brakeman's Blues"
Off The Record, Vol. 1: Live Recordings, 1956-1969
Smithsonian Folkways 1993

Peter Rowan played guitar and provided vocals for Monroe's backup group the Bluegrass Boys from 1964 until 1967. Still a brash young hipster Rowan says that he and Monroe often clashed during his stint with the band. He is credited with guitar and vocal work on this album which also features Bobby Hicks, Bill Keith and Del McCoury among many others.

PETER ROWAN INTERVIEW - Mark Welch talks with Peter Rowan about his days as a Bluegrass Boy and his experiences with Bill Monroe.

www.peter-rowan.com/

Peter Rowan and the Nashville Bluegrass Band
"That High Lonesome Sound"
New Moon Rising
Sugar Hill 1993

Peter Rowan
"Last Train"
All on A Rising Day
Sugar Hill 1991

Peter Rowan
"Rye Whiskey"
Tree On A Hill
Sugar Hill 1994

Peter Rowan
"Ruby Ridge"
Bluegrass Boy
Sugar Hill 1996

Peter Rowan
"Electric Blanket"
Dust Bowl Children
Sugar Hill 1990

Peter Rowan & Tony Rice
"Shady Grove"
Quartet
Rounder 2006

Here's a pretty good clip of Rowan and Rice Performing Shady Grove live from Suwanee, FL 3-25-05