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Most family bands evolve from actual family members who happen to be musical, eventually moving from the living room to the road. The Carper "Family" is a bit of a misnomer, though there is a connection. The band is comprised of three Austin women who each previously led their own groups. Each of them also grew up with families who played music. So as you might guess, they feel like a family.
Melissa Carper plays doghouse bass, Beth Chrisman is on the fiddle, and Jenn Miori plays guitar. Each can sing lead and their three distinctively different voices offer variety for the listener. In fact, their voices are so different that their fabulous blended trio harmonies catch you off guard. It is hard to tell who is singing what part, but that's a good sign. Harmony is supposed to sound like matched parts and there voices move together as one. As an added treat, Cindy Cashdollar guests on the album on steel guitar and Brennen Leigh is featured on mandolin.
Now, to describe them. Think cowboy music meets old time country. Think the 1930's meeting 2012. Think western swing with a southern twang. They're a little like Rider's in the Sky, but a lot more like the Boswell Sisters, if the Boswells had come from Texas.
Toward the end of the Folk Alliance Conference in Memphis in February, late on the last night on the 19th floor - the third floor of endless hotel room shows - I asked someone in the crowded hallway who was not to be missed. I was pointed toward the Carper's and a found a place to stand.
I heard "My Baby Don't Like Me" which opens as a trio, then Melissa sings the lead trying to rationalize why she has fallen out of favor with her lover. "I take out the doggies and my hair's still messy, so what happened?" Jenn was next and singing about the love of old swing music in the "Tennessee Jive." Then Beth stepped to the center to sing the album's head-scratcher, "Don't Treat Me too Nice." She calmly explains in verse that she can be satisfied, even delighted with less attention and never desired someone to be there EVERY night. After all, that might be a bit much. Then there's the one about falling in love by buying goats together. Who hasn't wished that dream to become a song?
You can't get too much of The Carper Family; their retro style of music may not be unusual, but they certainly are.
Here's the opportunity you've been waiting for to put your radio and video producer chops to work by joining forces with a leading public radio music service!
You will be producing live and taped video and audio pieces, including but not limited to: fundraising segments, in-studio artist performance sessions, live concerts at venues and festivals, promo pieces, special arts features, etc; plus, working with ENCO to build and schedule playlists for Folk Alley's 24/7 music service.
Qualifications: Bachelor's degree in communications or relevant field, or one year of additional experience may be substituted for each year of the education requirement; two or three year's radio or video broadcasting experience.
Knowledge of broadcast production techniques and FCC regulations; radio and video production styles and techniques and software packages related to production, (e.g. ENCO, Music Master, Adobe Premiere, Adobe Audition, Final Cut Pro X, and/or other studio audio and video hardware and software related to broadcast content production and content generation.)
Position is based in Kent, OH at WKSU 89.7 FM, a service of Kent State University
The first time I met Levon Helm was backstage at the Ridgefield Playhouse (in Ridgefield, CT). I was coming off a couple of shows near there, and he'd just played Newport. Justin Guip, Levon's longtime engineer and confidant, knew I was in Connecticut and that I had the night off. And so he called to suggest that I come by and hang out with the crew for awhile.
Shortly after I'd arrived, Levon surfaced with an armful of photos and a black Sharpie. Before worrying about load-in, or concerning himself with sound-check, the man was already preparing to meet his people; to greet them with that solar smile, honest handshake, and those opaque, patient eyes. Within the first fifteen seconds of observing him, I knew that Levon Helm was the most human musical genius I would ever encounter.
I saw him again in late summer of 2011, while recording my album Last Bird Home at his barn in Woodstock. I had recruited Garth and Maud Hudson, Tommy Ramone, Larry Campbell, Gabriel Butterfield and nearly a dozen more musicians for the sessions and by the third day; I was coming a bit unglued (playing producer to my first "big" project). Levon approached me near the front door and asked how it was going. I just opened my eyes wide and threw back a full cup of coffee, as he smiled and half whispered "breathe".
"Main thing is to have fun with it. And if it's not working, just walk away from it for awhile. And you do know that lake back there's stocked with some real good fish, don't you?" Of course I forgot all about the session in that moment. I forgot about the players, the clock, the deadlines... and I wasn't standing in front of a Grammy-winning studio with a living legend anymore. I was being pacified by my Papaw Earl, somewhere near Little Mud, KY. And all I had to do was "breathe".
I was reminded once again of how very human Mr. Levon Helm was, with the news of his passing on Thursday. Even as he fought cancer over the years, I never expected him to die. Levon couldn't die. He was the spirit of American music- the father figure to every kid with a voice and a backbeat. And yet here we are; speaking of him in past tense, which must mean it really has happened.
Our culture loves to enshrine celebrities when they pass. But this is different. This is a true human loss. And while it's accurate to say that there'll never be another Levon Helm in the world of music, it's clear to me today that there will never be another Levon, period. The musical genius will live on in the recordings though. And the human being, in the hearts and minds of the many he touched over all those decades.
HEAR IT FIRST ~ Mercyland: Hymns for the Rest of Us
April 18, 2012
**Mercyland is no longer available for streaming**
by Kim Ruehl, for FolkAlley.com
The relationship between music and spirituality has a history about as long as human beings have been capable of giving voice to their beliefs. In fact, there's reason to believe music has had a place in spiritual practice since before any of the contemporary religions even took root.
Conversely, modern music would likely have little place without the various tenets of faith. But, whether it's faith in god or love or humankind, music is evidence of the persistence of the human spirit. Maybe that's why so many predominantly secular artists occasionally perform and record spiritual songs at some point in their career. When an artist sings a song about faith in something larger than themselves, it doesn't necessarily mean they're looking to make a testimony about their religious beliefs. It's simply a moment for them to tap into whatever holds the key to their creativity.
And so it is that a handful of today's finest folk and roots music artists - The Civil Wars, Shawn Mullins, the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Buddy Miller, and Emmylou Harris among them - have gathered to record an album titled Mercyland - Hymns for the Rest of Us.
This is not a collection of tent-raising revivalist spirituals, though there are certainly plenty of those in the folk tradition. You're unlikely to find on this disc a clear and determined statement about Jesus or God or any specific Biblical lessons. (Except for North Mississippi All-Stars' "If I Was Jesus," which takes the phrase "What would Jesus do?" in an interesting direction.) Nor, for that matter, will you find lessons from the Torah, the Qu'ran, the Tao Te Ching, etc.
What you will find are existential spiritual explorations about things like life and death, love, struggle, dissent, and peace. In fact, Shawn Mullins may carry the crux of the album's motivation in his song, "Give God the Blues," which comes up second on the disc:
God don't hate the Muslims
God don' hate the Jews
God don't hate the Christians
But we all give God the blues.
God don't hate the atheists
The Buddhists, or the Hindus.
God loves everybody, but we all give God the blues.
Like the rest of the album, Mullins' song neither confirms nor negates anyone's religious practices. Mercyland acknowledges faith, love, and mercy are not merely features of religious doctrine, but are human compulsions toward which we're all pulled. Regardless of any community's relationship with God, there is always common ground in music.
Sharing its title with a bluegrass tune, Take Me for Longing is a new romance novella from Felice Fox that makes good use of the world of traditional music. The story revolves around Nic, the mandolin player for the Taylors, who has been disgraced by a thinly veiled character in a romance written by a young woman he met - and entranced - at a summer festival years earlier. They didn't have a relationship then, but sparks fly when they meet again after Nic's escape to California.
In her book, Fox has created in Nic a man who has been pushed to the outside of his own family band by the perception of an event that never really took place. Bluegrass is an unusual genre that includes multi-generational family bands - many of which (like the Taylors) have built a reputation as a conservative, family-centered voice. This is what slips Nic up. If he played bass for Kiss, no one would care if he marriage fell apart. In fact, he would probably be flattered to find his way into a romance novel.
When Nic drives his (rather posh) tour bus to California to be closer to his ex and his son, he runs into June, the woman who wrote the offending book. And sparks fly! June loves bluegrass (there are lots of scenes of people jamming on the beach) and she feels equally bad about breaking up the Taylors with her fiction.
Fox knows her music - bluegrass is never treated as an oddity, she obviously is a fan. One of the book's themes is the connection between June and Nic, but another is the conflict growing out of the past and future of bluegrass. Two more books are planned in the series. WARNING: there are several scenes of explicit sexy sexiness (if you've read a romance novel, you know what I mean). This would be the perfect book to read between sets at Telluride this summer. As long as you're not part of a super-conservative family band.
One of the greatest things about folk music is ability of audiences to actually grow fonder of artists as they mature. Even though we love younger musicians who are embracing traditional music, new releases from our favorites can really get us excited. June Tabor's new album with Oysterband, Ragged Kingdom, serves up a collection of songs that struck a nerve with fans and earned the collaboration three BBC Folk Awards (with another for Tabor for Folk Singer of the Year). The music is like a fine wine - it only gets better with age.
The Chieftains are celebrating 40 years of performing and they have never been known for letting grass grow under their feet. Their new release, Voices of Ages, welcomes many musicians that weren't even close to being born at the time the band came together for its first performance. Guests include the Punch Brothers, the Decemberists, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Imelda May, the Secret Sisters, Low Anthem and the Civil Wars.
Not every band is lucky to make it to 40 years. Little Blue Egg was released under the shingle of Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer but, as most people know, Dave Carter (the impossibly talented songwriter) left this world in 2002 at age 49 - much too early. His partner Tracy Grammer discovered a cache of unreleased demo tapes and these new songs keep alive a great folk duo, even if it is for just a little while longer.
Woody Guthrie also died much too young. In his 55 years, he forever changed the musical landscape of America. He captured the truth in folk music and left behind one of the greatest artistic legacies of the 20th century. A group of contemporary musicians - Jay Farrar, Will Johnson, Anders Parker, Yim Yames - have created New Multitudes. The collection (initiated by Nora Guthrie) adds tunes to Woody's early lyrics in honor of Guthrie's centenary.
More music added to the library from across the generations:
Getting up early is the most counter intuitive thing you can ask a musician to do, especially during the madness that is SXSW. Not only did The Punch Brothers and Trampled By Turtles get up early, but they absolutely brought the house down when they joined my home station, KUT Austin, in the Four Seasons' ballroom during this year's SXSW and played to upwards of a thousand die hard music fans.
As you'll see from the videos below, a little artful lighting made sure everybody forgot that it was 8 AM, and that those are coffee cups, not highballs.
(A big thank you to KUT's Storyboard team for their video expertise and KUT engineers Seph Price, John Craig, Brian Urban and Jim Reese for excellent sound.)
Q: How many banjo pickers does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
A: 100. One to screw the lightbulb in, and 99 to complain it's electric.
Everyone knows a good banjo joke. There's a reason for that. The banjo can be a pain in the neck. It's hard to keep the darn thing in tune. That fifth string - the high drone - can be grating to listen to if it's not employed correctly. The whole setup requires delicate balance.
A good banjo player is a master of restraint. No matter how lightning-fast they can deliver those Scruggs-style three-finger picking rolls, you better believe, if it doesn't sound awful, they're holding back more than they're unleashing.
The strings resonate so hard and naturally against the skin on the instrument's body, you can easily turn a banjo into a tool of dissonant ire. To make the thing musical, well, that takes darn near genius.
Earl Scruggs made his instrument sing. He developed a picking style so aurally attractive, hardly a banjoist since hasn't at least tried to emulate it. Some have done a darn good job. Noam Pikelny (Punch Brothers) picks a good banjo; Bela Fleck has his way; one mustn't forget the great Tony Trischka, nor underestimate Steve Martin. In fact, Scruggs' influence on the banjo has been so remarkable, those wishing to break the mold and innovate its sound in new directions are dialing it back to clawhammer style these days (Abigail Washburn comes most readily to mind).
But, I doubt even the clawhammer folks would hesitate to call Scruggs a major influence, even though they've chosen a path away from his definitive style.
Borne of the trailblazing troupe Bill Monroe & the Blue Grass Boys, Earl Scruggs spun off that band with his buddy Lester Flatt before long. Together, Flatt & Scruggs became a benchmark of the bluegrass revolution. Their guitar-and-banjo breakdowns have influenced generations of instrumentalists.
Through it all, Scruggs seemed happy to join any band. He lent his skills to the peace effort, playing "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" in Washington, DC, at a concert aimed at ending the Viet Nam War. He collaborated with everyone from Johnny Cash to Elton John and released somewhere around 30 albums in his lifetime. He earned a Grammy Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He was inducted to just about every Hall of Fame and Honor in Nashville and was given the National Medal of Arts.
Not too shabby for a banjo picker. Indeed, Earl Scruggs proved the banjo can be taken seriously after all. Without a doubt, his physical presence will be missed in this world, but the music he made will never die.
Monday marked 50 years since Bob Dylan dropped his self-titled debut - an album which, for all intents and purposes, was his most unapologetic tribute to Woody Guthrie. It was the start of an incredible recording career that's influenced countless artists since.
When considering an artist like Bob Dylan - who has about 54 albums to his name as of this posting - it's easy to get overwhelmed and clouded by his incredibly dense catalog of work. Employing a phrase like "Bob Dylan's best work" is sure to spark a debate among superfans, but that's not going to stop me here. Instead, here are, in my opinion, five of Bob Dylan's best songs:
1. "Blowin' in the Wind" - Obvious, maybe. But also a touchstone for great topical songs. It's not blatantly protesting anything. It doesn't force you to choose sides like so many topical songs do. It doesn't draw a line between progressive and conservative or right and wrong. The song simply asks a series of questions and is then content to let you decide on your own answers. In the process, it reminds you inaction and disengagement are both irresponsible reactions to a world wrought with inequality.
2. "Gotta Serve Somebody" - This tune came in the middle of Dylan's quasi-gospel period. He was talking about Jesus, of course, but from a somewhat humanist perspective. The message simplified the notion that everyone, in some way, serves someone in their life. Whether you're serving dinner or serving your boss; serving your family or serving a higher power. It was a rumination on humility and reverence while making a sort of populist statement in the process. It was an exceptionally poetic moment for Dylan, amid a canon of poetry.
3. "Most of the Time" - Bob Dylan is discussed most often for his command of two things: sociopolitical issues, and the blues. But Dylan's love songs - the ones which find him smitten in the throes of desire - are some of the most honest handlings of the topic in contemporary music. In this case, he's talking about getting his heart broken, and he's doing so in a very straight-forward almost innocent tone. True to the reality of moving on, the song does its best to focus on everyday tasks - anything but the heartache - and yet the love creeps in anyway.
4. "Hurricane" - Back to Dylan's various forays into commenting on the headlines...it would be a tall task to ask any other songwriter to surmount the poetry, rhythm, pace, and sheer power of this song. Dylan's prowess as a songwriter isn't limited to one area of a song. He's always had a knack for developing his work to the greatest of its potential, recognizing that a great collection of lyrics is irrelevant if it doesn't work with everything else in the song toward the same goal. "Hurricane" is one of those moments where Dylan succeeded in getting everything in concert toward one provocative statement.
5. "Standing in the Doorway" - Speaking of singing the blues, this one may be more of a country or pop song aesthetically, but its blues knock all the others out of the water. An absolutely devastating heartbreak song.
The last few of years, I - like everyone else in the music industry - headed down to Austin in March to join the behemoth festival of cacophonous insanity known as South by Southwest (SXSW). That enormous citywide festival certainly has a certain allure for folks like me, whose tastes and interests are focused on a raw, live, almost improvised sound. Indeed music of every persuasion is blaring out of every nook and cranny. Things often don't go as planned (Abigail Washburn played a stunning set in a taco shop last year, standing on a booth with her band after the sound system stopped working). That's just one of many instances where Murphy's Law proved to make way for great performances.
This year, I decided to stay home and let SXSW go on without me. Instead, I've been enjoying a week worth of performances by unknown artists around the country...and some fairly well-known indie folks, too.
Couch by Couchwest made 2011 its inaugural year, inviting artists of any genre to submit video of themselves sitting at home - decidedly not at South-By - playing a song of their choosing. Neko Case joined in, providing a little street cred to the whole thing, and plenty of lesser known artists joined in the fun.
This year, the "festival" has been rocking the internet since last weekend, with some real doozy performances from artists you surely would never have heard any other way. For example, have you ever heard of the Peculiar Pretzelmen from Albuquerque? How about the Smug Brothers from that booming music town of Dayton, Ohio? Italy's The Heart & the Void? Darn good stuff.
And there's plenty more performances like these available at CouchbyCouchwest.com. The festival continues through the weekend. Watch or add your own videos.
Folk Alley recently lost a special listener who embodied the spirit unique to the folk music community.
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