NEWS FEATURES, Oct 17 edition, Acoustic Americana Music News 2008

.
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
.
"Tied to the Tracks"
ACOUSTIC AMERICANA
MUSIC NEWS
.
NEWS FEATURES for October 17, 2008
.
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
copyright (c) © 2008, Larry Wines. All rights reserved.
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
.
WELCOME to the ACOUSTIC AMERICANA MUSIC NEWS, our weekly news feature companion to the ACOUSTIC AMERICANA MUSIC CALENDAR. Here, you’ll find news for artists and music fans alike, ranging from the immediately useful to the merely informative, from gig opportunities and festival deadlines to early bird discounts, from venue openings and closings to career tips, and hot tips for acoustic music fans.
.
The Acoustic Americana Music Calendar with frequently updated posts of upcoming events well into 2009, is available at http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com and various other places around the web. We post links for current editions on our Myspace page, but new editions of the calendar are no longer there. Myspace has made changes that limit the size of posts, and that makes it far too time-consuming and ponderous to post the calendar there in far too many small pieces.
+
Our myspace site, www.myspace.com/laacoustic is still the place to go for news of the syndicated “Tied to the Tracks” radio show, and its new TV counterpart that launches soon.
.
LATEST NEWS FEATURES always post separate from the calendar.
+
MOST RECENT previous News Features posted OCTOBER 10, at http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2008/10/news-features-oct-10-edition-acoustic.html
+
Last, before that, News Features posted OCTOBER 7, at http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2008/10/news-features-oct-7-edition-acoustic.html
+
Recent weeks and months’ editions are available on Blogspot at http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com; older archived editions are available on the myspace page (www.myspace.com/laacoustic), by using the “View All” button and scrolling, and if you don’t see what you want, then journey farther back by using the “older entries” button and scrolling, as many times as necessary. You can go all the way back to when acoustic music was made by trees crashing to the floor of the primeval forests when the dinosaurs got too rambunctious.
.
COMMUNICATE WITH US about anything related to the Acoustic Music Calendar & News, or “Tied to the Tracks,” at tiedtothetracks@hotmail.com.
+
Please don’t send us anything through myspace email. It’s esoteric, can’t be auto-forwarded into a “real” email account, and we just can’t keep up with it. So, communicate through the above address.
.
.
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
NEWS FEATURES:
October 17, 2008
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
.
.
1) “TIED TO THE TRACKS” IS NOW ON WEB TV
Yep, it’s true: there’s a new episode of the show, with VIDEO, and it’s where you can hear AND see it. On a broiling hot day this past summer, two-time Florida State Banjo Champ / two-time Mountain Dulcimer Champ MARY Z. COX and her guitarist husband BOB COX sat down for a performance-interview session with the show’s programmer / producer / host LARRY WINES, the same guy who doubles as our editor here.
+
Even as the arrangements for national syndication of the multiple-award-winning “Tied to the Tracks” radio show near their conclusion, this proof-of-concept and rather experimental episode has surfaced. It was made BEFORE the “pilot” episode of the long-delayed television version of “TttT,” and it has found its way to the cyber airwaves. It was recorded at the studios of “MY RECORD LABEL” (www.myrecordlabel.net), a Los Angeles-based indie label that’s growing by leaps and bounds. In fact, it’s the label that has signed a significant number of artists who have performed on the radio version of “TttT” over the past few years.
+
Go to www.myrecordlabel.net to explore the site and the label’s many artists in a variety of genres, including some very fine acoustic artists. Then, when you’re ready, type “Tied to the Tracks” into the site’s keyword finder. Or, you can click directly to the “TttT” TV show on the My Record Label site, at www.myrecordlabel.net/artistdetails.php?id=660
+
The show has five segments, and they can be watched individually, paused, or allowed to run automatically in sequence to enjoy the entire show. Each segment captures a live music performance, as well as interview time with the artist to illuminate the music. The whole thing runs just over a half-hour.
+
You may note the indication of “See you next week,” and indeed, that continuity will be forthcoming - just not for a while. Larry says, “We need to get the radio syndication deal, along with agreements with additional individual radio stations, completed before we jump into the requirements of producing a new TV episode for broadcast each week.” So, for now, enjoy the show with the marvelously talented MARY Z. COX, and the promise of more to come!
+
(Editor’s Note: in our Oct 7 edition, news feature #7, we told you about the new banjo tab book by Mary Z. Cox. That edition is available at http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2008/10/news-features-oct-7-edition-acoustic.html)
.
.
2) TIME NEARLY GONE TO ADD “TIED TO THE TRACKS” TO RADIO STATIONS
It’s simple, really: once the national syndication deals are signed, the show’s producers are contractually prohibited from adding any more individual radio (or internet radio) stations. “TttT” has delayed signing the national deal because the show’s producers have been working to get the show back on broadcast airwaves in Los Angeles, and in additional markets elsewhere. All that requires securing an affiliate station in each market that isn’t included in the national syndication package – and L.A. isn’t in the package.
+
Larry maintains hope for what he acknowledges is a diminishing set of options to get the multiple-award-winning “Tied to the Tracks” and its acoustic Americana format back on the air in L.A. Still, he says, “We aren’t going to delay national syndication much longer. Either the current initiative in L.A. works, or we will reconcile ourselves that signing the syndication deal brings the reality that the show will never be on the radio here – but it will be on in a great many other places. Ultimately, it’s like my grandmother once told me when I was a teenager, pining over a girl: ‘those who don’t want you don’t deserve you.’”
+
Larry says, “If you know of a station that should be airing ‘Tied to the Tracks,’ in any market, anywhere, contact us right away at tiedtothetracks@hotmail.com while there is still time to speak to that station. Once the national deal is complete, the affiliates will be frozen as they are that day, and no more stations can be added.”
+
For more on why Los Angeles radio is in its current condition, and what’s wrong with that in terms of lost business opportunities as well as lost listeners, see the next two companion features.
.
.
3) L.A. RADIO: LACK OF DIVERSITY = LOST BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
Larry Wines, our editor, and the programmer / producer / host of radio’s “Tied to the Tracks,” says, “This is just a weird town for radio. L.A. prides itself as the center of everything for television and major motion pictures, yet the music used in all those TV shows and films can’t be heard on the radio here. All the CW Network’s mostly ex-WB TV series, and even shows like ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ on CBS and the late, great ‘Crossing Jordan’ on NBC have made prominent use of wonderful music by the best of today’s ‘acoustic renaissance’ artists. But try to find those artists or their music on L.A. radio.”
+
Larry points out more inconsistencies. He says, “We are constantly told that the only demographic that matters for marketing is 18-to-24-year-olds. There are two things inherent in that which make no sense. First, what 18-to-24-year-old do you know who has any money to buy anything, and second, if that’s the target market for all those ‘youth-oriented’ TV shows and films that are placing all the acoustic music, why is there a disconnect between reaching that demographic on TV and failing to connect with it on radio, since the music from those TV shows isn’t on the radio?”
+
Even beyond those points, L.A. is an inscrutably strange town for radio. Consider this: there are several proven and popular music program packages available to all NPR affiliate radio stations, nationwide, and a number of those packages include Americana and indie acoustic music. But the two NPR affiliates in Los Angeles, KPCC and KCRW, choose to buy only the NPR “talk show” packages. That may be because the cheapest radio programming you can buy, anywhere, is the “talk” package, thanks partly to the exorbitant demands from “Big Music” for payments on every piece of music that is played.
+
Back to L.A., and its only two NPR affiliate stations. KPCC faced open hostility from its listeners when Pasadena City College sold the station’s operating rights in the ‘90s, and the new operators flipped formats and went all-talk. Those distraught listeners – who had also been station “member” contributors – caused the station to cut a unique deal to pry “A Prairie Home Companion” from its NPR music package so it could be aired on the station, where it is the ONLY music show of any kind on KPCC.
+
Meanwhile, KCRW airs its own daily music programming under the banner of “Becomes Eclectic.” Numerous musicians in L.A. characterize it as “Becomes Annoying,” or worse. That station’s music programming is totally under the control of its Music Director and “Morning Becomes Eclectic” host NIC HARCOURT, and when he says they play only “hand-picked music,” it’s his hand doing the picking. Nic has a penchant for the experimental and, well, to any ear that enjoys folk-Americana music, Nic’s tastes run in the direction of industrial noise. Viewers of the A&E cable TV show, “Breakfast with the Arts,” had a similar response to Harcourt’s selections for that TV show’s music segments, in the final weeks before suddenly plunging ratings got it cancelled after 17 years on the air.
+
Then there’s KPFK, L.A.’s “powered by the people” Pacifica station that takes no corporate or business-sponsor/underwriter grants, and is governed by a local programming board. That board represents disparate interests, including some seen as fringe interests. It works as a coalition, wherein each member gets a show that represents the agenda of their core interests, in return for allowing each other interest to have its show. That resulted, among other things, in their weeknight lineup of music programs being thrown overboard in favor of Spanish language political talk shows, largely aimed at immigration issues. The reality is that people who are undocumented – i.e., illegally in the US – want to keep a low profile to avoid deportation, so political talk aimed at them doesn’t resonate with the majority of its intended audience. Similarly, despite the fact that California is solidly in the Obama camp, KPFK’s penchant for opposing everything about the current administration has often taken the form of embracing every conspiracy theory, no matter how poorly predicated. But all of that is a result of programming-by-coalition, so it’s become part of the agenda of KPFK. The station isn’t competitive in the ratings in any time slot, on any day, and they don’t care. But they are dependent on contributions from listeners, and from the tone of the station’s recent appeals for financial support, their audience is diminishing, or at least less able to send them money. If they see that as a consequence of their programming decisions, they have yet to demonstrate it by offering programs like the music shows they cancelled.
+
L.A. radio now has only one weekly folk music show, ROZ LARMAN’s long-running “FolkScene” on KPFK, and one bluegrass show, FRANK HOPPE’s “Bluegrass Etcetera” on KCSN, a station which, sadly, discontinued its web simulcast due to its recent financial problems. The latter station also recently cancelled CHUCK TAGGART’s popular “Down Home,” a weekly folk-Americana show that was known for its Cajun, zydeco, delta blues, and Celtic offerings. And KPFK effectively cancelled the replacement for retiring BEN ELDER’s “Wildwood Flower” bluegrass show, when MARY KATHERINE ALDEN’s attempt to revive her old “Alive and Picking” in that time slot was relegated to “occasional” status, approximately once every seven weeks. Despite growing popularity of music in the folk-Americana genres, as proven by its proliferation in live performance venues in Southern California, L.A. radio now offers one-third the broadcast hours that the music enjoyed a year ago.
+
There are business dimensions to all this, Larry asserts. He says, “There is a vastly underserved market out there, but unless management and program execs at L.A. radio stations recognize that the disparity translates into a business and marketing opportunity, things in L.A. will continue to be bleak for acoustic music on the airwaves. And how do you reconcile that with the attendance at all the concert venues, and events like last weekend’s annual ‘Taste of Folk Music / Taste of Encino,’ and events like the ‘Harvest Festival’ Americana music series with its great line-ups, currently running every weekend in Moorpark? It really makes no sense, from a business standpoint, for L.A. radio to be the way it is, and ignore all the people who go to these concerts and events.”
+
It seems irreconcilably odd. The nation’s largest radio market - with 14 million potential listeners - has so little diversity on the airwaves. Mostly, commercial radio in L.A., as Larry often says, “is fixated on the latest clone of sh-thump-thud / soundalike / Britney Lohan / revolving-door-rehab / pop-tart-du-jour recordings that are produced one note at a time, then ground-out like sausages by the big labels.” As for the “Britney Lohan” moniker, Larry says, “Why not amalgamate the names: You can’t tell them apart, anyway.”
+
L.A.’s newest major commercial FM venture, 100.3 “The Sound,” does have a more interesting music mix than the “classic rock” it claims as its format, and it’s much better than the centrally-produced generic playlist of “Jack FM,” where the slogan is “Playing what we want,” as opposed to playing what YOU want. For many people, “The Sound” may be the most listenable station in town. But it is still the iconic JIM LADD at the ABC-owned “classic rock” flagship, 95.5 KLOS, who maintains his outpost with the last free-form nightly music show on Los Angeles radio. It’s a distinction celebrated by Ladd and his cadre of loyal listeners. Jim Ladd reaches far afield of what anyone would see as the station’s core genre, spinning everyone from old bluesmen to a sprinkling of acoustic guitar and mandolin and banjo and fiddle players as he builds his often-thematic sets.
+
KCSN has gone to programming that retains their weekday classical music and adds what it calls “Americana Alternative,” but that’s not a term used anywhere else. Whatever it is, it’s mostly programmed by Cal State Northridge students. And given that station’s poor signal reach and cancellation of their web simulcast, no one we’ve asked seems able to tell us what their “Americana Alternative” is. Certainly, that station was the place where Larry Wines of “TttT” first advanced the argument for an Americana radio station in L.A. So, whether they “get it” or not, we don’t know.
+
Meanwhile, even as L.A. radio stations with good signal reaches continue to ignore acoustic and Americana music, the “Acoustic Americana Music Calendar” proves, each week, that there are more live performances of music in acoustic / acoustic renaissance and folk-Americana genres here than the COMBINED number of L.A.-area performances of all other genres of music. And fans must be supporting the music in all those acoustic and Americana-friendly venues, because the venues continue to present it – despite the fact that it doesn’t get promoted like other music, simply because it isn’t heard on L.A. radio.
+
As radio diversity has dried-up, plenty of people in L.A. have simply converted their frustration with local radio into opting-out. Larry says, “If what people say to me is any indication, then a growing number are finding music from other sources, like web radio, Myspace, their friends’ ipods, and, to some extent, satellite radio, and finding concerts to attend because we list and describe them in the Acoustic Americana Music Calendar. Concert attendance obviously generates money for the artists and the venues, but radio execs seem oblivious. As for the lost radio listeners who now listen on the web, that puts nothing into the local economy in L.A., and contributes nothing to the vitality of a shared sense of cultural community, the landscape that radio helped build in the first place.”
.
.
4) “TIED TO THE TRACKS” MAY MOVE TO SEATTLE
There have been clues. Many of you have noted that the “Acoustic Americana Music Calendar” includes acoustic music festivals everywhere, and it also seems to include a lot of concerts, club gigs, sea chantey sings, and other events in and around Seattle. That began to happen because Seattle is such a great town for acoustic music. But it’s become a growing presence in our calendar not only for that reason, but also because the strength of the acoustic music scene there could make it a prime place from which to broadcast the nationally-syndicated radio show, “Tied to the Tracks.”
+
Larry Wines, editor of the Acoustic Americana Music Calendar and this, the companion Acoustic Americana Music News, is also the programmer / producer / host of radio’s multiple-award-winning “TttT.” He says, “The centerpiece of every edition of the radio show is one or more live, in-studio performance-interviews with a wonderful artist or fun band. If the show isn’t on the air in Los Angeles, it could be a tough sell, to expect artists on tour to take time-out and come to the studio to do the show. Artists have always been enthusiastic about appearing and performing on ‘Tied to the Tracks,’ and we need to be realistic about a key reason why: they’ve always known it could put more people in seats at their concerts that night.”
+
Larry continues, “We don’t want ‘Tied to the Tracks’ to be another ‘Dr. Demento Show.’ I mean that in the sense that everyone in L.A. thinks he’s dead, because his show hasn’t been on the air in L.A. for years. Of course, he’s heard all over the planet. While that’s one more thing that reflects the glaring lack of diversity on L.A. radio, it is, for us, much more. Dr. Demento’s format doesn’t require him to attract touring artists to perform live on his show. We do. It may be a far easier ‘sell’ for the artists if the show originates from, and is broadcast in, another city that is very oriented toward high-quality music and talented musicians, where our show can boost their concert attendance in that town.”
+
Larry had more to say: “And, while Seattle doesn’t have nearly as many live weekly performances, or as many venues as the L.A. area, its media culture is very supportive of its music scene, going all the way back to when JIMI HENDRIX began playing there, when ANN & NANCY WILSON formed the band HEART there – two girls, fronting a high-energy band!?, two girls who also knew how to play quiet, touching ballads, I mean that was huge – and when the grunge movement spawned bands like NIRVANA there, and more. If the folkies hear that and react with, ‘Wait! None of that is folk-Americana!’ then they should realize what those examples have in common: they were all avant-garde at the time. Seattle embraces the avant-garde, AND it’s always been supportive of folk-Americana, AND new and traditional roots music. Look at Seattle’s annual ‘North West Folk Life Festival’ – it’s the biggest free music event in America! I think they’re ready for some Southwestern folk music, as we include in the TttT mix.”
+
So, how likely is it that “Tied to the Tracks” will move to the Northwest? Larry says, “That may all come down to whether or not we get an L.A. radio station that wants to add our syndicated show, while we are still free to add them.” He adds, “If anyone knows anyone in radio, in L.A. or anywhere else, now’s the time to tell us. Time is growing short. Once we sign the national syndication contract, we can’t add any station that isn’t already in place.”
.
.
5) DEEP DISCOUNT OFFERED FOR GREAT SHOW, SATURDAY AT CALTECH
Wow, an acclaimed progressive string band PLUS an acclaimed Cajun band in one concert, in a fine venue, with discount tickets? Yep! How about $10, instead of the previously-advertised prices of $28, $23, and $18.
+
The show this Saturday, Oct 18, 8 pm at Caltech, is already one of our “SHOW OF THE WEEK” picks in the Acoustic Americana Music Calendar, and it’s listed there with the regular ticket prices.
+
It’s RANI ARBO & DAISY MAYHEM plus the PINE LEAF BOYS in a fabulous double-bill at the Caltech music series, in Beckman Auditorium on the Caltech campus, 322 S Michigan Av, Pasadena; www.folkmusic.caltech.edu; 626-395-4652, or toll-free 888-2CALTECH (1-888-222-5832).
+
We got word, late Thursday from the CALTECH FOLK MUSIC SOCIETY, that “The Caltech Office of Public Events has just asked us to offer tickets to this Saturday night's show (Oct 18) with RANI ARBO and her band, DAISY MAYHEM, along with the PINE LEAF BOYS, to our mailing list for a rock bottom $10 a ticket, and the usual $5 price for Caltech students! Just mention the FOLK MUSIC SOCIETY when you buy your tickets on the phone or at the door. This promises to be an exciting show, and Beckman Auditorium [“big Beckman,” the real concert venue / big round building on the campus] will be jumping. RANI & DAISY MAYHEM are known for their uplifting blend of string band (fiddle, guitar, upright bass, and percussion) music that migrates into jazz, pop, and other places. Their recent recording, "Big Old Life" has gotten great reviews, as did the two earlier ones. Visit their web site at www.raniarbo.com to see just how unique and wonderful they are.”
+
“The PINE LEAF BOYS are a young, exuberant Cajun quintet from Southwest Louisiana. Led by WILSON SAVOY on accordion and fiddle, they are steeped in tradition, and at the same time they make their own bold stamp on Cajun music. See their web site at www.pineleafboys.com to find out all about them. This show is a tremendous opportunity for us all. One week later, on Saturday, October 28, Caltech's Public Events presents the amazing NATALIE McMASTER with her band in Beckman Auditorium with a $5 discount if you mention the Folk Music Society. Her web site is www.nataliemacmaster.com.”
.
All these artists - RANI ARBO & DAISY MAYHEM, the PINE LEAF BOYS, and NATALIE McMASTER - have been heard on radio’s “Tied to the Tracks.” See the write-ups in the calendar for these shows, and for the next Caltech Folk Music Society show, with the outstanding Scottish singer, Andy Stewart with Irish guitarist Gerry O'Bierne, on Fri, Nov 7.
.
.
6) MCCABE'S PUBLISHES 50TH ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATIVE BOOK
In the knick of time for their recent 50th Anniversary Concert, the folks at McCabe’s Guitar Shop and its well-known concert hall (www.mccabes.com) tell us, “We trolled through 50 years worth of archives to compile the best historical pictures of McCabe's and the culture of artists and characters that have called it a second home over the years, and put them into this fine, fine commemorative book.” Titled, “The First Fifty Years, 1958-2008 – a commemorative album,” the book is now available at http://store.mccabes.com/product.php?productid=16408&cat=250&page=1
+
What’s in it? They tell us, “In (mostly) sequential order, this book contains RARE photos of the former storefronts up and down the street from our current location, snapshots of artists 'before they hit big' either hanging out or on stage, and some choice anecdotes from people that have been integral to the McCabe's story these FIRST fifty years.”
+
The book is “Sturdy and with smooth matte finish,” and they assure us that the limited edition book will not be reprinted when the edition of 2,000 copies is gone. The book is $20, or as McCabe’s says, “put another way, a mere 40 cents per year!” Whether you came to the concert and left without the book as a memento, or if you or someone you know have been dropping in the store / performance venue and calling the folks there family, the publication of this book is a significant event by a major player on the Los Angeles musical landscape.
+
McCabe’s 50th anniversary, as we reported well in advance, occasioned a gala concert in the prestigious “UCLA Live!” series. Recapping the party, McCabe’s tells us, “The 50th Anniversary Show at UCLA's Royce Hall was a resounding success! To those of you who came, thanks so much for helping us celebrate and make it a memory we'll cherish the rest of our lives. To those of you who couldn't make it, fret not, we'll turn 75 and then 100 before you know it!”
.
.
7) TOM FREUND WINS “PARENTS CHOICE” AWARD
Southern California based singer-songwriter TOM FREUND has won a “Parents Choice Award” for Fall 2008 for his CD, “HUG TREES,” (www.myspace.com/hugtreesmusic) co-produced by Freund and STEVE McCORMICK. The album has been heard on radio’s “Tied to The Tracks,” and it includes vocal contributions from VICTORIA WILLIAMS, BRETT DENNEN (who wrote one of the songs) and ABRA MOORE, plus instrumental performances by MICHAEL JEROME (Richard Thompson’s band), RICHIE HAYWARD (Little Feat), ERIC HEYWOOD (Ray LaMontagne’s band), STAN “THE BARON” BEHRENS (Canned Heat). Obviously, from the many recognizable names involved, none are known as “children’s” artists, so the award is especially significant. Read the copyrighted review of the CD, by Dirty Linen magazine art director Lahri Bond: www.parents-choice.org/product.cfm?product_id=25067&StepNum=1&award=aw
.
.
8) THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING A “FLOURISHER”
It’s not a common term, but it should be. Only about 17 percent of Americans are flourishers, according to a study in “American Psychologist” magazine. Flourishers have a positive outlook on life, a sense of purpose and community, and are healthier than "languishers." So, who’s a “languisher?” That term describes “about 10 percent of adults who don't feel good about themselves,” writes Sandra Gordon in an on-line piece (posted at http://health.msn.com/health-topics/anti-aging/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=100216496>1=31023). She continues, “Most of us fall somewhere in between.” Gordon quotes Corey Keyes, Ph.D., a professor of sociology at Emory University, who asserts, "We should strive to flourish, to find meaning in our lives. In Sardinia and Okinawa, where people live the longest, hard work is important, but not more so than spending time with family, nurturing spirituality, and doing for others."
+
Since artists are especially passionate people, that’s something for us to consider, as we seek balance and outlets for our creativity in tumultuous times.
.
.
9) LEMONADE FROM IRISH LEMONS…
When bluegrass wizards BILL EVANS & MEGAN LYNCH left on their current European tour, they posted a photo they had taken of a nice, big venue poster that was used to publicize their show in Ireland on St. Patrick’s Day. It worked to publicize their message for their tour promo, because the headline is “How do you spell ‘Can’t Wait?’” y’see, the poster has Bill’s name misspelled, as “Bill Evens.” They’re returning to the US on Nov 3, “Just in time to vote,” and their US tour includes shows at the Blue Ridge Pickin’ Parlor (Dec 13) and the Coffee Gallery Backstage (Dec 14), along with daytime fiddle & banjo workshops (Dec 14) at the BRPP.
.
.
10) LILY WILSON HAS EXCITING MUSIC NEWS
She’s a wonderful Americana artist with much more news than that of her new album, titled to reflect both the change in tastes of music fans everywhere and Lily herself having arrived at a new portal in her career. Lily’s new CD is called “The Right Time,” and was released Sep 16 (we had the CD release show in the Acoustic Americana Music Calendar). And she’s on another very notable new record.
+
Lily tells us, “I had the honor of singing on MELISSA ETHERIDGE's Christmas CD, ‘A New Thought for Christmas,’ which was released last month, and is really beautiful!” Check it out at www.melissaetheridge.com/home.
+
In fact, Lily often tours and sings backup for MELISSA ETHERIDGE. Get to know her, and you realize that LILY WILSON never seems to slow down. She’s performed live in three languages on radio’s “Tied to the Tracks.” She performs locally and all over the country, and continues to write and record with her husband and writing partner, MARK BROWNE, who doubles as the bass player in Etheridge’s band.
+
Lily has contributed her vocal talents to many other artists’ projects, and has sang with DOLLY PARTON, BONNIE RAITT, ALISON KRAUSS, KENNY LOGGINS, and PATTY GRIFFIN, as well as her ongoing work with Melissa Etheridge. Last year, Lily won the L.A. Music Awards "Female Vocal of the Year" in the Adult Contemporary category for her song, "A Little Life."
+
Meanwhile, Lily has the artists’ mutual-admiration-thing going with MELISSA ETHERIDGE. Lily tells us, “This is what she says about my new CD :-)”
+
"Lily Wilson's album 'The Right Time' shows just why I love having her lend her talents to my work. She is an incredibly accomplished artist. The duet she sings with Philip makes me crazy, I love it." - Melissa Etheridge. (“Philip” is PHILIP SAYCE, who sings with Lily on two tracks on the new album, on “Daylight Again,” and “Undertow.”)
+
Our editor, LARRY WINES, wrote in “FolkWorks” magazine about her previous CD, “Stargazer,” calling it, “simply a beautiful album with a soft, but compelling veneer of love and anguish wrapped around lyrics that are well worth a listen.”
+
And comedian/ actor BILL DANA used one of the terms we invented here when he called Lily Wilson, “…one of L.A.’s best Acoustic Renaissance musicians.”
+
More on Lily at www.lilywilson.com and www.myrecordlabel.net/lilywilson.
.
.
11) “SHORT SHELF LIFE” POLITICAL SONGS
Okay, so a month from now, most of them will be (thankfully) obsolete. But, right now, nothing is more current and in a few cases, more relevant. Between now and the election, we’ll bring you a few in each edition. Here are this week’s offerings:
+
a) BARRY GOLDBERG wrote this song for Obama, featuring BONNIE POINTER of the POINTER SISTERS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7DBB3puxcw
+
b) “AMERICAN PRAYER” features a great many music stars, lending their voices to this song for Obama, and it has a nice fiddle part and a powerful excerpt from MARTIN LUTHER KING’s final speech: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVi4rUzf-0Q&feature=related
+
c) The “OBAMA LLAMA” song is a web phenom that keeps getting re-done, with varying degrees of success. The original is cute and funny: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxVZi1-kUvM&feature=related
+
d) The “BARACK O'BAMA” song is recommended by FolkWorks writer JOEL OKIDA, with the note, “Here's a jaunty tune to sing around the pub or in the tub!” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EADUQWKoVek
+
Okay, if you know of any JOHN McCAIN songs in the folk-Americana genre, let us know. Please, not the lame “Raining McCain” video by the two overweight girls who can’t sing. And, no, we aren’t interested in hearing ANY more about “Joe the (unlicensed) Plumber.” All of which reminds us of handling a caller to radio’s “Tied to the Tracks.” The caller wanted to know why there aren’t any folk songs about conservative political causes. Rather than explain the nature of folk-Americana music and its roots, we referred him to a mainstream country radio station where we were sure he could find something from Nashville’s formulaic offerings that would fit the bill. Then, we said to listeners, “If ANN COULTER has any marketable skills that actually contribute to society, tell her to sling a six-string and come on the show. We’ll give her a chance to sing about it.” We thought we might get a call, between her tirades on Fox News, wherein she calls everyone a traitor if they disagree with her invectives. But we still haven’t heard from her.
+
Meanwhile, if you didn’t know, there is a single source for all those SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE political sketches from the past 30+ years. It’s http://tv.msn.com/tv/best-snl-political-impressions/?GT1=28103. (We recommend “Palin / Hillary Open,” if you haven’t seen it.)
.
.
12) JOHN McCUTCHEON CHECKS-IN, AND HE HAS THINGS TO SAY
As we’ve observed before, he’s been a touring folk musician so long that his web site IS www.FolkMusic.com. He’s a fine performing songwriter, and he has been known to express himself and his views, usually to the delight of his audiences. He just sent us his “Post-Labor Day Newsletter,” and there are a couple of items we want to share. First, he tells us about the memorial service for the late UTAH PHILLIPS (previously known as Bruce “Utah” Phillips, and as “U. Utah” Phillips, he had legally become Utah Phillips a few years ago.)
+
John says, “I helped lay to rest my old friend, UTAH PHILLIPS, in late May. I flew out to Nevada City, CA and joined hundreds of others at the local little league field to send Utah off with a First Pitch, lots of music and eulogies, a model rocket firing and even a 7th Inning Kvetch, when everyone could yell out those things about the old buzzard that pissed them off. The concession stand, which had resolutely refused to sell Utah a hot dog over the years due to his congestive heart failure, even offered a ‘Utah Special:’ a 1/4 pound dog with cheese, onions, and sour cream. Yum!”
+
Beyond the endearing humor that is so appropriate for the beloved ol’ Utah, there are things that are befitting to the times, and that was always what Utah was about. Here are a few excerpts from the eulogy delivered that day, June 2, 2008, by John McCutcheon:
+
John observed of Utah and his music, “it was never about folk music. It was all about possibility. There he was, as usual, talking about the invisible among us: the hobos and bums and tramps, the makers of history ignored by historians, the writers of songs you rarely hear, the characters who frequent the fringes of this world. They were the center of his. …He was railing against the bosses, inciting us all to rise up, instructing us in the fine art of freighthopping, feeding us copious shovels of mooseturd pie and playing like a devil and singing like some sort of broken-winged angel.
+
”… Music was that excuse…that shill, he'd call it…that suckered the public into little dark rooms with him and then sent them back out from those rooms into a world that would never…could never…be the same. They'd been on a ride that they hadn't expected and maybe didn't even want. But live performance…and Utah understood this better than most…was about coming out the other side a different human being. Changed, in however small a way, and seeing life through a new lens. One that included the invisible…past, present and future. It was all about possibility.
+
”It was about the possibility that maybe…just maybe…this was all about more than applause and a paycheck. That maybe it was about gathering people together for a couple of hours and have them leave longing for that kind of connection beyond those two, stage-lit hours. It was about the possibility of community.
+
”And the leap from possibility to reality is action. He stayed in the houses, slept on the sofas, ate at the tables, lingered long after the encore. He was creating a template for the folk music community. He was creating a template for America.
+
”…like all his work, the political was the personal. He knew that each fellow worker was, first and foremost, a human being. At the Vancouver Folk Festival he bypassed one of the legendary post-concert performer parties to organize a father's shower for me when he heard my first child was about to be born. He was the first to volunteer for a benefit to aid musicians felled by illness or hard times. He walked his talk and leaves a trail future folksingers ignore at their…and our…peril.”
+
While we highly recommend reading John McCutcheon’s entire eulogy to Utah Phillips, for its value as a tribute to the late folk icon, we sensed an obligation to Utah himself to present the foregoing excerpts. It’s because, as Martin Luther King, Jr., called it, “The fierce urgency of now.” Utah may be gone, but we can be certain that his spirit lives on, and calls to us from wherever he is, and all that he did, and all that he was.
+
John McCutcheon’s entire eulogy to Utah Phillips is posted in John’s MySpace blog, at http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=296309983&blogID=402158579.
+
Well, we said we want to bring you a couple of things from JOHN McCUTCHEON. Here’s the other one. John writes, “In June I sandwiched in a quick trip back to Alaska between gigs in Virginia and Minnesota. Believe it or not, you cannot see Russia from up there.”
+
John played the annual “NATIONAL STORYTELLING FESTIVAL,” a prestigious and fun event in Jonesborough, Tennessee, then he was taking a little time off after to write his thoughts on a few subjects.
+
As a fine narrative songwriter and storyteller, he writes concisely what many of us are thinking, when he says, “The centerpiece of the fall, of course, is the election. Despite all pledges to the contrary, mud is being dredged, manufactured, and slung at levels not remembered in my lifetime. Distractions abound (lipstick, pigs, multiple houses, exaggerated relationships) and somehow people imagine that invective is the very lifeboat this Titanic needs after its repeated episodes with the Wall Street Iceberg. The $700 billion gamble proves that, somehow, we still believe in Trickle Down Economics. If your builder told you he was going to construct your house from the roof on down, you’d probably point out that it’s the foundation that gets done first. Then you’d get another builder. Well…”
.
.
That’s it for this week.
.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
.
NEXT WEEK, we’ll bring lots more news.
.
=====================
.
copyright (c) © 2008, Larry Wines. All rights reserved.
.
=====================
.
Be sure to check EVERY WEEK for
.
+ the extensive and always huge ACOUSTIC AMERICANA MUSIC CALENDAR’s event listings at http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com, or at www.myspace.com/laacoustic.
.
+ news of the “TIED TO THE TRACKS” radio & TV shows coming soon in syndication.
.
+ the latest NEWS FEATURES from the acoustic music universe!
.
.
WANT TO CONTACT US?
tiedtothetracks@hotmail.com
.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
.
.