Joni's got a new compilation of songs, Songs of a Prarie Girl -- songs about Canada and her childhood, including Urge for Going. Reminded me immediately of another prarie girl - Connie Kaldor -- who has has long written and sung to and about the Canadian Prarie. One of These Days and Moonlight Grocery are among my most favorite albums.
Take a listen to a lesser-known Canadian woman from the Prarie!
the new Ani DiFranco Knuckledown. I listened to a couple of tracks online and read lyrics. Pretty powerful, as usual, but these songs are weathered by loss, grief, sadness and new life...
Sunday Morning is especially poignant:
sunday morning
you're doing your thing
and i am doing mine
speaking words
more a formality
cuz we can feel we
are of one mind
sunday morning
sheets still warm
kitties swarming
around our feet
life comes easy
your sweet company
making it so complete
of all the monday through fridays
we joined the crusade
of all the saturday nights
in which we were made
of all the exorcisms
i've done with your ghosts
still it's sunday morning
i miss you the most
Heard a cut off her latest The Last New York Horn don't remember the cut but remember I liked it. It's her 5th cd! She's not touring right because she's in grad school. A back up plan is always good. Not everyone gets a career like Dar's.
I have not chronicled the many Native American singer/songwriters -- of which there are many. Joanne Shenandoah comes to mind, of course, but also John Trudell. But I did hear one tonight, a nice antidote to the debates, that reminded me of the power of politics in song: Annie Humphrey. Her voice, guitar, and lyrics strong and clear - unlike one of the debaters and and more like the other. How's that for enigmatic? Humphrey is not. Humphrey is a member of the Leech Lake Ojibwe, based in Minnesota
Annie Humphrey's music is on the
(Makoché (makochay) Music which looks like a great resource for Native music)
Her recordings: The Heron Smiled, Edge of America
The Whispering Tree (with others such as John Trudell)
At first I wasn't impressed. Her voice sounded off-key, like she didn't know how to sing. But her guitar kept me listening to those a bit off-center lyrics. Viers is based in Seattle and her latest CD Carbon Glacier is on Nonesuch, but her first recordings were on her own label Raven Marching Band. Gotta keep my ears on this one - she's coming to Iota in mid-October.
Is she Suzanne Vega or Jane Siberry or Dar Williams? I dunno, but her website is a bit odd. Olivia 101 reminds me of Siberry's Writers are a Funny Breed or Marco Polo
San Francisco Chronicle interview with Joni Mitchell about her retirement from music:
On this afternoon, she talks about how she developed her style, but the most essential quality of a songwriter, she suggests, may be mental toughness. Like Bob Dylan and fellow Canadian Neil Young, Mitchell has fallen in and out of favor over the years. She has been revered, imitated -- and ridiculed for being esoteric and out of touch.Ultimately, she was not tough enough. "Everything in my later career, with few exceptions, has been compared unfavorably to my early work," she says, matter-of-factly. "I've done 16 records hearing people say, 'You're not as good as you used to be. Finally, I said, 'OK, I agree with you.' "
Mitchell announced she was leaving the music business in 2002 and hasn't looked back. "My goal as a writer is more to comfort than to disturb," she says, explaining her decision. "Most of the art created in this particular culture is shallow and shocking, and I can't create music for this social climate."
She pauses. In conversation, she is outspoken, funny, self-deprecating and stimulating. But she doesn't find anything funny about the topic at hand. "There's not much room for subtleties today. It's the shallow, flashy heart that grabs the attention; chase scenes, atrocities."
She doesn't have the same opinion of her songs that us fans do. About Both Sides Now she says:
Even after all this time, she doesn't understand all the excitement over the song. "I thought 'Both Sides Now' was a failure, so what do I know?" she says, smiling. "I was not a good judge of my early material; none of it sounded all that good to me. That's why I wanted to keep moving forward."
Certainly the songwriter is going to have a different perspective on a song, but that sounds like she is trying to distance herself from her past, her early years, the years that everyone compares her current songs to. I understand that. Mitchell has long bemoaned fans and critics wanting her to "paint A Starry Night again, man" (from Miles of Aisles). On that live album she went into a long story about artists repeating themselves. Certainly her affinity is more for painters than songwriters.
Call her a voracious musician/singer/songwriter. Ani Difranco. Love reading articles like these in business mags.
On an Ani jag these days. Maybe it's the times, the political climate -- the hurricane of accusations, lies, pretense, the fatigue of these days. Dilate is talking for me:
so i'll walk the plank and i'll jump with a smile if i'm gonna go down i'm gonna do it with style and you won't see me surrender you won't hear me confess 'cuz you've left me with nothing but i've worked with less and i learn every room long enough to make it to the door and then i hear it click shut behind me and every key works differently i forget every time and the forgetting defines me that's what defines me
Note to self: Relative newcomer Linda Dickson Kudzu should be on my to-buy list.
I might have heard Eddi Reader as a back up singer but don't remember reading her name on any cd and I am pretty meticulous about that. Her song Lucky Penny from Simple Soul, released in 2001, was sweet but not simple. Her latest release is a cd of Robert Burns poems. In the US, her CDs are available through Compass Records
Heard Enola Gay (from Next)) this morning. Had never heard of Kate McDonnell before. Reminded me first of Dar Williams (as many younger women singer/songwriters do -- isn't that what the critics did to women in the late 1960s and 70s -- everyone was compared to Joan Baes, Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins, etc....) 'cause of some of her phrasing, but her guitar is different.
I look forward to seeing her perform this winter.
Pawn Shop Man by Kate MacLeod from her Trying to Get it Right cd. Another multi-talent: songwriting, singing, instrumentalist. She is based in Utah; I hope she gets a chance to tour on the East Coast.
Not usually known for their political songs, Terre and Maggie Roche have recorded a song for the US Presidential Campaign season: I Gave My Love a Kerry. Unfortunately, the song is not available for general release -- which means you ought to call or email your favorite folk music stations to play it! A lyric sample:
I Gave My Love a Kerry Who Had No Disdain
For Peoples Of The Country From Which He Came
America The Beautiful He Fought In Your Name
And Not For The Halliburton Company's Gain
America The Beautiful I Grew Up Inside You
To Hear My Teachers Say Democracy Was Good And True
In Other Places There Was Nothing That A Soul Could Do
To Fight The Dark Oppression Of Their Leaders' Bloody Coup
I Never Thought That I Would See A Coup In My Homeland
But That Is What Happened And I Think You Understand
That We Are In A Crisis And We Need Every Woman And Man
To Win Back Our America It's Time To Take A Stand
Let's Give Ourselves A President Who Has No Ties
To Those Who Would Use Jesus' Words To Tell Big Lies
About The Moral High Road And Justice In The Skies
While Turning Their Backs On Suffering And Other Peoples' Cries
[written by Terre and Maggie Roche]
Oh, how I wish my CDs weren't in storage! I'm aching to hear every song on Seductive Reasoning again!
Yes, her phrasing and guitar sounds a little like Dar Williams, but Edie Carey's her song "Compromise: Be a Poet About It" is beautiful, evocative. She's already got 4 CDs, the newest is When I was Made
Not a big po boy fan, but I sat up and listened to this relatively new Canadian trio's serving of acoustic blues they write themselves. Sound is authentic and radical at the same time.
Their first cd was released last year and they plan another one for this summer.
What is in that Northern water, I want to know?
Strong voice, strong lyrics, vibrant guitar, Brigitte DeMeyer's songs are like a strong original coffee blend coming through the speakers. Looks like she plays Northern California, San Francisco area, mostly, but I hope she makes her way East. Original voice echoing the threads of American folk: bluegrass, country, blues...
Buy Nothing Comes Free and Another Thousand Miles at CD Baby
More fresh singer/songwriters from Canada: Amy Campbell
I hear influences of Joni Mitchell and Ani DiFranco -- but like so many new singers I've heard lately, very much her own woman, her own songs, singing new melodies and lyrics for the new century in the same old world.
Listen to songs at New Music Canada.
Buy her CD Architecture: Live at the Opera House on CD Baby.
Read a resounding review at the Estrogen Zone of her music and CD.
I'm not a big Irish music fan. I don't follow it, don't have a Celtic heritage, but I have been to an Irish festival or two, enjoy watching clogging. So, to my surprise, found Heidi Talbot, a member of Cherish the Ladies, a traditional Irish music band and apparently an "all-star band" or so says AOL online music. Talbot sings and plays bodhran in this band and has released a solo CD Distant Future
I've a chance to see her and Cherish the Ladies quite soon.
British folk? US singer/songwriter? with Nueva Cancion influences through a childhood lived in Chile, Ariane Lydon combines all of these in richly textured songs. She has several solo CDs available, including an instrumental harp cd. My only sadness is that it seems she performs mostly in the US Midwest.
I forget that Washington DC is a treasure of singer/songwriters like Grace Griffith and great venues like the Birchmere.
it pours new music......thanks to AOL radio folk channel......
British folk up tonight......Kate Rusby singing Caanan's Land from A Little Light (on Compass Records label). She has a new cd coming out at the end of June Live From Leeds.
Judith Edelman Sailor Boy from her cd Drama Queen. Apparently she's now touring with a band and has a past life in bluegrass. Here's a review on Pop Matters of her cd Only Sun
What rock have I been under?
Nothing beats a good, poetic lyric. I love Joni Mitchell's Urge for Going, when I heard Tom Rush sing it. Today, I heard her version, which I hadn't heard in a long time, from Hits. That voice, that guitar, those words -- that's why it's hard to listen to newer singer/songwriters, to Mitchell's own new stuff. Locked in nostalgia? Not really. I am just a sucker for that confessional voice -- in poetry and folk songs.
I awoke today and found the frost perched on the town It hovered in a frozen sky, then it gobbled summer down When the sun turns traitor cold and all the trees are shivering in a naked rowI get the urge for going
But I never seem to go
I get the urge for going
When the meadow grass is turning brown
Summertime is falling down and winter is closing in[Urge for Going - Joni Mitchell]
I've long longed for Tom Rush's Circle Game -- he was one of the first to sing Joni's songs in the 1960s. He recorded Tin Angel, Circle Game. Mitchell didn't even record Circle Game until 1970's, Ladies of the Canyon.
3hive has turned out to be a revelation for me. Today, I heard City Girl, a song by The Owls . Airy, profound yet unencumbered by legacy. Kinda reminds me of early Suzanne Vega or Jane Siberry -- but new -- I haven't heard them before. Know what I mean? They don't remind me of how great Joni Mitchell is. How original Ani is. Surprised, not bored. I wanted to tell someone.
Read an MPR interview with them that captures them:
Owls' music is spare and quiet. The singing, always prominent in the mix, features ethereal and occasionally dissonant harmonies. The melodies are often deceptively bright, given the dark emotions the lyrics sometimes convey. Because of the occasionally sober tone of the songs, and the group's tentative stage presence, the Owls have been described as a band of librarians. For Allison Labonne, making music with The Owls is about stripping away any persona, and getting to the essence of things.
Listen to Air, City Girl, and Black Hands of Tyme
A couple of singers and songwriters who stopped at the Country fame station: Mary Chapin Carpenter started out as a folkie in Washington, DC, playing Kramer's Books and Music while folks ate and browsed books. Then she went electric and country. Wrote a fun song about the Twist and Shout -- a club my friend Carol took me too in the 80s. Now she's back as a singer/songwriter. Was she ever gone? Nah -- just re-categorized.
Kathy Mattea is another one. Used to be a popular country singer before Faith Hill and Shania Twain and their mutants took over. Now that fame has blown over, more gorgeous songs with her rich voice. I really loved Lonesome Standard Time and Willow in the Wind.
Dolly Parton is a country star gone bluegrass. I just love her songs and her unorchestrated voice, guitar and banjos. I always loved Coat of Many Colors and Jolene
I often want to buy a cd by someone I don't already know. How to find new singer/songwriters? Check out WXPN's list of featured albums.
Another place to browse is CD Baby, where independent artists sell their wares. Lots of sound clips and links to artist web sites. Here are the different types of new folk:
During one browse on CD Baby, I found Michelle Greene. I love to listen songs in Spanish, even Gloria Estefan, even if I don't understand all the Spanish.
Record labels are great sources too, but you have to know the labels first.
Of course, festivals, where lots of artists play are a way to hear artists you already know and hear new ones with relatively low risk.
Saw Working Girl on cable recently and it reminded me of how much I like the Carly Simon song Let the River Run. It had a pop-ish world beat and her magnificent voice. Her new greatest hits album has its own site and a video and audio of the song. Like other classic singer/songwriters of the late 60s and early 70s, I like Simon's early, more acoustic, simple albums the best. In fact, I think I'll prefer her earlier Best of collection.
And, naturally, this reminiscing leads me to Carole King. I almost always prefer her Tapestry versions of her songs to other interpretations. I found her latest CD Love Makes the World a bit, um, boring. I don't think I listened to it more than twice. I've heard, though, her daughter Louise Goffin's latest is very good. I may have heard it on the radio, somewhere between Philadelphia and New York.
Where does the name of this blog come from? One of the mothers of singer/songwriting....Joni Mitchell:
I remember that time you told me you saidfrom Case of You
"Love is touching souls"
Surely you touched mine
'Cause part of you pours out of me
In these lines from time to time
Oh, you're in my blood like holy wine
You taste so bitter and so sweet