The mighty Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings have recorded a slice of Christmas soul/funk to tide us over until they release a new album next year.

The tracks is available here for FREE, all you have to do is sign up to the mailing list.

I took my dog for a walk … all the way from New York to Florida … I said to him, “There. Now you’re done.”

- Steven Wright

Fetch, Finn! Now sit, Sunny! Stay. Good pups!

That’s right, in a deliberate attempt to boost our Arbitron ratings Great River Radio has turned the show over to our dogs. Well, not the entire show. Our “Confluence” segment this week has a canine theme. We’ll have dog-related songs from Big Mama Thornton, Page France, Josh Ritter, Uncle Tupelo and Louis Armstrong. And as always we’ll mix in a few listener requests, including selections from Patty Griffin and John Hiatt. But despite their best efforts, Finn and Sunny won’t run the entire show.

There’s a Great River Radio tradition of digging through mountains of MP3s to bring you some of the best new music around. We’ve been working extra hard this week to unearth new tracks from Richmond Faintaine, The Avett Brothers, Brandi Carlile, Dirty Projectors, Tom Waits, Sharon Jones, Har Mar Superstar, Martha Wainwright, Girls, Echo & The Bunnymen and the Raveonettes. Haven’t heard of some of these artists? That’s OK. Give us a listen, and you might discover a new musician to add to your own heavy rotation.

Great River Radio will be “live” today from 4-6 p.m. (CST).

Brian/Dan

P.S. Great River Radio will be off next week for Thanksgiving. Give thanks and have a great holiday with family and friends!

Playlist

Maybe-Ingrid Michaelson
Crown of Ages-The Ettes
Ten Thousand Words-The Avett Brothers
Green Grass-Tom Waits
Stranded In Your Love-Sharon Jones and Lee Fields
So Hard-Martha Wainwrights
Lust For Life-Girls
8th Wonder-The Gossip
Tall Boy-Har Mar Superstore
Take It In-Hot Chip
Hound Dog-Big Mama Thornton
My Dog & Me-John Hiatt
I Wanna Be Your Dog-Uncle Tupelo
Dogs-Page France
Feed The Dog-Honey Is Cool
To The Dogs Or Whoever-Josh Ritter
Yellow Dog Blues-Louis Armstrong
Heavenly Day-Patty Griffin
I Will-Brandi Carlile
The Underdog-Spoon
The Preacher-Brother Ali
The Chosen One-The Raveonettes
I Think I Need It Too-Echo & The Bunnymen
Wild Girl-Rickie Lee Jones
Island, IS-Volcano Choir
Stillness Is The Move-Dirty Projectors

If you’re a fan of Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings (and friends), check out Amazon’s daily deal: Daptone Gold for $2.99. It’s 24 songs for $3!

Daptone Records, home of some of the most authentic soul and funk acts around, are set to release a 23 track compilation containing unreleased recordings, rarities and some of the classics from their impressive back catalogue. The compilation will include, amongst others, Lee Fields, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings and Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens.

Take a listen to Lee Fields and Sugarman & Co.’s ‘Stand Up’ below. This track is also available for free from the good folks over at Fader Magazine.

The compilation will be released on 24th November and will be available from the Daptone Store.

Album Cover

Michael Bublé

“Crazy Love”

October 2009; Reprise Records

By Emily J Ramey

Everything Michael Bublé touches turns to gold, or I guess I should say “platinum” since that seems to be where his new album Crazy Love is headed – it has occupied Billboard’s #1 spot for four weeks, since the album’s release.  There’s definitely a reason for that too, and no, it’s not the throngs of 40-something women that swoon at his every honeyed syllable (although I wouldn’t mind him crooning me to sleep).  Crazy Love is arguably Bublé’s best work, beginning with his dramatically-orchestrated “Cry Me A River,” which boasts a flawless and powerful blend of minor tones, moody percussion, and Bublé’s characteristic vocal jazz that is nothing less than epic, followed by a version of “All of Me” that’s all the luxuriousness of Sinatra with a little of Bublé’s brassy new touches.

The title track is a warm and resonant cover of a Van Morrison song in which Bublé cools his vocals to a near whisper à la John Mayer at his best; “Haven’t Met You Yet” is the snazzy single from Crazy Love, a wonderfully poppy Michael Bublé original complete with summery piano accompaniment and irresistibly catchy lyrics like, “Oh you know it’ll all turn out/And you’ll make me work so we can work to work it out/And I promise you kid to give so much more than I get/Yeah, I just haven’t met you yet;” and “Hold On” might be the best track on Crazy Love, quiet and passionate and deeply sonorous.  “Heartache Tonight” is Bublé’s rich and brazen version of an Eagles song.  “Baby (You’ve Got What It Takes),” on the other hand, is a different kind of jazz – the Dap-Kings brand of jazz – supplemented with an R&B beat and Sharon Jones herself.

Michael Bublé is becoming confident and bold, which is exactly what his career was lacking until now.  Bublé knows what he’s good at and can now apply his silvery, dulcet vocals to any genre, jazzing up any song.  And although Bublé has always been fun to listen to, there’s something about Crazy Love that possesses some serious staying power.  Get ready, women of the world, I feel another arena tour coming on.

365 words

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings “100 Days, 100 Nights”

One of my all-time heroes, Dylan Moran, made an excellent point about musical conventions in this day and age versus how things used to be. The very best music in the 60’s and 70’s came from ugly people. Nowadays, with our exiguous little blonde waifs cluttering up the airwaves with pop du jour songs that they neither wrote nor really even sang, with canned beats, vocoders, instruments that can be switched out and replaced with even worse instruments for the “remix”, it’s really hard to actually find music nowadays in anything. It’s really no wonder iPods come packaged with the cheapest, most terrible headphones imaginable and nobody cares, it’s because what have we got to listen to that we would need to hear it well?

Enter Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings:

Now, in my previous statement, I don’t mean to imply that Sharon Jones is ugly. If anything, she’s one of the most beautiful women out there performing. She was about 49 years old when this album came out, and had no compunctions about working up a sweat on stage crooning these perfect little danceable funk/soul/awesome numbers, written by a guy called Bosco who plays an amazing bass, and the reason I say she’s beautiful is because she’s real. There is not one trace of vocoder, awkward cuts, or disingenuous lyrics based around some kind of pre-cut, manufactured hook. This is just amazing music, recorded in analogue for those keeping score, and it floors me to listen to such heart in a recording made in my life-time, much less within the past 5 years.

Of course, I don’t mean to say that there aren’t hooks on this album, man the whole first half of the album is full of them. Of course, as I mentioned when I last spoke of the Dap-Kings, these are the guys responsible for Amy Winehouse having a killer soul-based sound, even if she herself is a self-destructive vacuous marketing ploy to try and raise the sales of sailor tattoos. Sharon Jones doesn’t play the pop star game, and as such, we’ll probably never see the group chart a single or her picture on the cover of some damnable magazine made up of 80% ads and 19% garbage and 1% the credits page.

From the first hits of the dry, raspy drums and squishy guitars untouched by amp modeling or post-processing with some wicked bass-lines to the last slow jam, each song on Naturally sounds just that: natural. It’s like the songs were grown in some kind of funk garden or some equally bad simile. I should also mention, as a bassist, how impressed I am with some of these bass-lines, especially in the album’s stand-out funky track “Natural Born Lover”, which contains this really catchy and kind of weird line “He’s a NBL and he TCB”, but really with the shuffly, trippy drumming, one can’t complain. The song has an interesting theme behind the lyrics, as it’s about an imperfect man who I suppose she’s with because he’s a “natural born lover”, because apparently “taking care of business” is better than being faithful or anything. Hey, at least she’s being honest about it, most pop/R&B songs don’t admit that side of the smooth talkers out there.

There’s an entertaining little duet with a guy called Lee Fields in the song “Stranded In Your Love”, about an ex-lover of hers that seems to have had his car stolen, and thus is forced to have to stay with her for the night, even though it seems he was just desperate enough to get his woman back to either lie about it or stage the theft. Either way, it totally works, which is just great.

Another odd number is “My Man Is A Mean Man”, which has a very James Brown-esque staccato to the instrumentation, but with this wonderful rolling bass-line, the kind that inspired me to play the instrument in the first place. The lyrics are spoken from the viewpoint of a lover done wrong, but they’re done with this intriguing vibe of introspection and total awareness of the situation. I would reprint said lyrics, but yeah of course they wouldn’t be online. Still, the song goes into double-time at the end, which is awesome, makes me wish the song would hang around a little longer.

The drumming intro to “How Long Do I Have To Wait For You?” makes this song one of my favorites on the whole album, and the song gets even better from there. I guess there’s a reason Homer Steiweiss, the Dap-Kings’ drummer, has the nickname “Funky-Feet”. In fact, I have yet to figure out what this song is about other than the title because I just can’t get my ears off the instrumentation on this particular track, plus the protracted notes by Sharon make her voice blend with the instruments moreso than accentuating the lyrical content. No complaints here, this song is beautiful.

The album’s centerpiece is something that everyone who has talked about Naturally tends to mention, and I’m no exception. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings apparently saw it fit to do a funk/soul/blues cover of one of America’s best-loved folk songs: Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land”, done in a slow, minor-keyed and sultry way that might make you scratch your head while moving your feet. Either way, the song retains its original political lyrics in this version, and I really appreciate that, no matter who it’s coming from. Why yes, if you didn’t know, the song originally had the following lines:

As I went walking I saw a sign there
And on the sign it said “Private Property”
But on the other side it didn’t say nothing, so it must be
That side was made for you and me

In the squares of the city, In the shadow of a steeple
By the relief office, I’d seen my people
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking
Is this land made for you and me?

Sharon was kind enough to include them (changing “relief office” to “welfare office” you know, since that’s what exists now). This cover alone makes this album better than its predecessor, Dap-Dippin’ With…, since I did get a slight whiff of contrivance from that album. Indeed, Naturally I feel was a huge step forward, offering up funky hit after funky hit, and hopefully I’ll get a chance to listen to the new album, and I’ll be talking about that one too, I’m sure!

Indeed, music like this needs to be cherished and enabled, before the robots who are creating our music take over our lives. Do it for the good of humanity!

I’ve decided to start a monthly feature that gives me a way to share some of the tunes I’m digging at the moment, some brand new, and some not so new.  For my first installment of ‘The Best from Bee See’ I went a little vague, featuring songs and bands I’ve been trying to hype all summer, like “Night Letters” from Propagandhi’s newest album Supporting Caste, “American Names” from the incredible Sebastien Grainger & The Mountains album, “I Can See The Future” by Iran (members of TV on the Radio), and Bon Iver’s “Brackett, WI” and a Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings zinger, both from the infamous Dark Was The Night.  I also threw in a couple of new tracks; J. Tillman’s “Year In The Kingdom”, Lucero’s “Sound of the City”, and a brand new track from Said the Whale from Islands Disappear hitting stores this Tuesday!  Enjoy this amazing 15-song download, absolutely free!  Click on the cover below to download.

Funk and soul revivalist Sharon Jones (of the Dap–Kings) recast as end-of-summer Riddim Queen by Easy All-Star Victor Axelrod (AKA Ticklah).  This one crept up on me like crazy and I suspect it won’t go away until the leaves are brown enough for it to only be acceptable to listen to Blonde on Blonde and nothing else.

Sharon Jones – ‘How Long Do I Have To Wait RMX’

Stumbled across this by complete accident over the weekend. Im familiar with Micahel Buble but must admit i’m not really a fan, however as soon as I saw that Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings were involved I thought it must be worth a listen.

I’m very familiar with the Dinah Washington/Brook Benton original, and I also love Deborah Cox’s cover on her Destination Moon album, however this dosn’t really add anything to the mix. Unsurprisingly Sharon Jones sounds great, as do The Dap Kings, however I find Michael’s voice a bit bland and middle of the road. This could have been great …. if Sharon had teamed up with someone else.

Sharon Jones – 100 Days ,100 Nights

Tracklist

1.  Kings, The-100 Days, 100 Nights 3:45

2.  Kings, The-Nobody`s Baby 2:27

3.  Kings, The-Tell Me 2:46

4.  Kings, The-Be Easy 3:03

5.  Kings, The-When The Other Foot Drops, Uncle 3:15

6.  Kings, The-Let Them Knock 4:29

7.  Kings, The-Something`s Changed 2:56

8.  Kings, The-Humble Me 4:05

9.  Kings, The-Keep On Looking 2:49

10. Kings, The-Answer Me 4:08

“Sharon Jones possui uma voz potente, de alcance profundo, que utiliza para buscar uma certa pureza perdida da soul music. Hoje, aos 51 anos, finalmente ela se tornou um nome conhecido…”

“Sharon Jones nasceu em maio de 1956, na Geórgia (EUA). Mudou-se para Nova York ainda criança e começou a cantar em corais de igreja. Na adolescência, foi backing vocal de bandas de funk e disco. Desde aquela época, já era fanática por soul music. “Eu cresci ouvindo tudo de soul music: Motown, Stax, James Brown… Quando me perguntam como faço minha música hoje, respondo: “É porque eu cresci no meio disso”.”

Nos anos 70, emprestou a voz a diversos artistas e bandas, mas não conseguiu contrato para um disco próprio. “Ninguém me aceitava na indústria da música. Diziam que eu era muito negra, que eu era muito gorda… Diziam que eu era muito nova, que não era bonita o suficiente”, relembra. “Aos 25 anos, me disseram que eu estava velha… Então fui fazer outras coisas.” Entre essas coisas, estão dois anos como carcereira na penitenciária de Ryker’s Island, em Nova York, e um período como segurança de carro-forte do Wells Fargo Bank, também em Nova York.

“Quando tinha 30 anos, fiz um teste na polícia. Mas disseram que eu estava velha… Então arrumei um emprego na prisão. Foi uma grande experiência, fiquei lá por dois anos. Depois fui segurança em carro-forte. Trabalhava armada, colocando dinheiro em caixas eletrônicos. Só depois encontrei os caras da Desco.”

Sharon Jones foi entregue a mão dos produtores e virou sucesso depois que quem ouviu seu disco????  Amy Winehouse!

Agradeço então a Wino por ter feito isso chegar aos meus ouvidos. Porque eu a acho incrível!

Inspired by the Motown era, the Opensouls have turned it up once again. DJ MAG says “Opensouls are up there with Sharon Jones & The Dapkings,Quantic Soul Orchestra & Breakestra. It’s quality from start to finish”
Getting the international respect they deserve. Standing In The Rain is the second single off there second album of the same name.
The single and album are available at all good CD stores and Digital retailers.

Directed by Tim Van Dammen Blur & Sharpen
D.O.P Tim Flower

http://www.opensouls.co.nz/
http://www.myspace.com/opensoulsspace

Standing In The Rain

Following my trip down to Calgary for their Folk Festival two weeks ago, I made a much shorter trip this past weekend to attend the Edmonton Folk Festival on Friday and Saturday. I didn’t attend Thursday or Sunday on account of other commitments, but I managed to catch a number of talented acts – some I was familiar with and was looking forward to, and others who I had never heard of before, and blew me away.

I’ve uploaded photos from the festival to my Flickr page. Here’s a recap of my experience at the festival.

Friday Night
I arrived on Friday in time to catch the last 30 minutes of the workshop featuring Neko Case, Kathleen Edwards, and Chuck Brodsky. I’d heard some songs by Case and Edwards and generally liked them; I’d never heard of Brodsky.

Chuck Brodsky performs at a session also featuring Neko Case (left) and Kathleen Edwards (right)

Brodsky acquitted himself well, playing a standard folk style. As a baseball fan, I was disappointed to find out I missed his song “Dock Ellis’ No-No”, about the Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher who threw a no-hitter while allegedly on LSD. Turns out Brodsky writes a lot about baseball – he made an album titled “The Baseball Ballads”. Case and Edwards also sounded good, though I didn’t recognize any of the songs.

The mainstage acts followed. First up were The Wailers. Only 1 original member of Bob Marley’s legendary band remains, but the current lineup represents the Wailers’ reputation well.

They played a number of classics such as ‘Exodus’, ‘I Shot the Sheriff’, ‘Jammin’, and ‘One Love’, mixed in with other numbers. They were what I was hoping they would be – fun, energetic, and true to the band’s history. A solid set; if you have a chance to see them live, do it.

Neko Case
I’d heard the odd Neko Case song (and made a point of listening to music available on her MySpace page Friday afternoon), but wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. Neko plays a folk-country-rock style that was mostly mellow with a few upbeat tracks thrown into the mix. She is an excellent live performer; I especially enjoyed her interaction between songs with sidekick Kelly Hogan.

Neko Case performs on Friday night at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival.

Raul Malo, formerly of The Mavericks, closed out the night. Anticipating a long day on Saturday, I headed home before his set. Apparently I missed a good show; Malo, according to Andy, plays a country-rockabilly style along the lines of Roy Orbison and Chris Isaak, and was a lot of fun.

Saturday Sessions
This was the day I was looking forward to, mostly because of the two Joel Plaskett sessions.

Talkin’ Bout My Generation: Ben Sures, Joel Plaskett, Jill Barber, Johnny Flynn
I made my way to this session to start the day.

Sures, playing a traditional folk style, hosted the session, and kicked it off with a humourous song titled “My Last Girlfriend”. Plaskett, accompanied on guitar by his father Bill, followed with “Lyin’ on a Beach’ off of his album ‘La De Da’.

Jill Barber performs at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival.

Last to perform in each round was Johnny Flynn. This was the first time I had heard him, but he came highly recommended by a co-worker. Flynn did not disappoint; he opened with just himself on steel guitar, and accompanied by a cellist, and played a roots-style that was full of passion. I don’t remember the name of the first song, but the second one he played is “The Wrote & The Writ” off of his debut album “A Larum”. My note, not knowing the name of the song at the time, was simply “jf-this song is off the hook”. Pretty much captures how I felt at the time.

Each artist played 3-4 songs. Other highlights include Plaskett breaking out his $7 electronic keyboard (from Value Village) to play “Rewind, Rewind, Rewind”, then playing “Happen Now” (with Jill Barber on backup vocals), my favourite of his songs, to close. Barber herself sang a song in French, “Toutes Mes Reves” (All My Dreams), then closed with a pretty wicked cover of Hank Williams’ “I’m So Lonely I Could Cry”.

Concert: Danny Michel
There was half an hour between the previous session and Joel Plaskett’s concert at 1. On the way there, I stopped by Danny Michel’s concert for a few songs. I’ve heard his most recent album, ‘Feather, Fur & Fin’, which is pretty solid. He played the title track as soon as I got there, then a couple of other songs I didn’t recognize before playing ‘Sweet Things’ Danny often plays with a loop/sound machine, but it was just himself on electric guitar at this point. I left a bit early to get to the Plaskett show in good time.

Concert: Joel Plaskett

Joel Plaskett at his concert on the Saturday of the Edmonton Folk Festival.

Joel is always engaging with the crowd between songs, giving preambles before songs such as ‘True Patriot Love’ and ‘Work Out Fine’. He’s an energetic live performer, and probably won himself a lot of fans (as did most performers). I especially liked that a good amount of his set came off of albums besides ‘Three’ (by my count, just over half the set). I always enjoy hearing from an artist’s full catalogue, rather than just hearing the latest work.

Intermission
As Oysterband played on the mainstage from 2-3, I took the opportunity to browse the merchandise tent, get food, and wander the festival grounds. The merchandise tent was full, and had an excellent catalogue of artists’ CDs as well. Some had already sold out. There seemed to be less food vendors than at Calgary, and local non-profits (save radio stations such as CKUA and CJSR) weren’t present either. One other thing that’s different from Calgary is that the site is much larger and spread out. I enjoyed the compactness of Prince’s Island Park; you could get anywhere quickly, and you could still enjoy the music perfectly well from the Beer Gardens, which isn’t possible in Edmonton. On the other hand, the hill at Gallagher Park offers outstanding views of the stage and the downtown Edmonton skyline. The hill alone makes it worth the trip.

Megatunes: Danny Michel, Jill Barber, Fred Eaglesmith, Loudon Wainwright III
Danny Michel hosted this session, which was recorded for CBC Radio 2’s Canada Live program, and will air on Thursday, August 27th. It will be available on-demand on the Canada Live website and in podcast form on iTunes as well. This was a fantastic session, and I recommend you catch it in one of the above listed formats.

Michel opened with “White Lightning”, and Jill Barber followed with a song I didn’t recognize. Fred Eaglesmith was up next. Fred, for anyone who has never seen him before, likes to tell stories. Each song he performed was preceded by a 2-3 minute (at least) introduction. The first song, “Wilder than Her”, was recorded by Dar Williams, who considers it a lesbian anthem. Fred made a couple of jokes, including one about how all we writes now is lesbian anthems (once the royalty cheques started coming in), before segueing into the song.

Loudon followed. He prefaced his song by introducing the Charlie Poole Project, dedicated to preserving the memory of the aforementioned musician, who has not yet been inducted into the country music hall of fame. Loudon’s new album “High, Wide, & Handsome’, pays tribute through covering Poole’s work.

Danny followed with “Sweet Things”, and Jill played a song accompanied by piano and clarinet. Fred was accompanied by the Ginn (sp?) Sisters from Schulenberg, Texas on the next song, which was preceded by a long story and a joke about the last supper.

The next round saw Danny play “Whale of a Tale”, which I also caught at the morning concert. Jill Barber followed with an excellent rendition of her hit song “Oh My My”. I didn’t catch the name of Fred’s next song, which was his last before Loudon played a song about Tonya Harding.

To close out, Danny played “Feather, Fur, and Fins”, before Loudon got to close the show. He played his famous hit, “The Swimming Song”, and Danny jumped in to sing a couple of verses. It was a great rendition, and a great way to end the session.

All four performers acquitted themselves well. I particularly enjoyed Jill and Loudon. Fred is an entertaining performer, and Danny is good enough to share a stage with anyone.

Concert – Alex Cuba
Alex Cuba followed. I caught a bit of him on Friday night as he played between Neko Case and Raul Malo on the mainstage.

Cuba played electric guitar throughout the show, some songs by himself and some with a three-piece band. The highlight was definitely his cover of “Bad Timing” by Blue Rodeo, with the lyrics sung in spanish. Cuba was fun to listen to, though not one of my favourite few acts of the weekend. He’s coming back to Edmonton (or St. Albert, to be precise) on February 4th, and I would consider seeing him again.

Saturday Mainstage
Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit
After his stellar performance in the morning session, I didn’t want to miss any of Johnny Flynn on the mainstage, so I left Cuba’s set a little early to make my way back to the hill.

Johnny Flynn on steel guitar performing at Folk Fest.

Johnny Flynn was the surprise, and therefore the highlight of the festival for me. I knew what to expect from Plaskett, but Flynn exceeded any expectations I had. Ok, maybe they get 1a and 1b status. Anyway, I highly recommend Flynn’s music. I don’t know how to best describe it, though the phrase I jotted down during his set was “roots infused music with a punk ethos” (hence the title of this post), which for me captures its spirit well.

The set itself was outstanding, as he ran through most of the songs from “A Larum”. Unfortunately, the hill was largely empty, and many fans in the audience (including the ones on the tarp beside me) spent much more time talking amongst themselves than paying attention. Their loss, in my opinion.

Beer Gardens
After Flynn, I went to the beer gardens to meet up with friends as Patty Griffin set up. I intended to return for Iron & Wine (who was after her), but ended up getting sidetracked and didn’t return until the final act was taking the stage. So let’s just skip ahead. One thing to note: I like the proximity of the beer gardens to the stage at Calgary; you can hear (and see on the big screen) the bands perfectly fine. In Edmonton, you can barely hear the music coming through the speakers and you’re a good distance away. On the other hand, a hot day calls for some Rock Creek Cider, so I don’t regret this decision at all.

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings at Folk Fest

The Dap-Kings opened with a couple of instrumentals, before bringing Sharon out. If you aren’t familiar with her background, stop right now and read it. It’s a great story of perseverance and determination to succeed.

The music in this set was good, but the performance was even better. Sharon danced all night (she’s 53 years old!), and the Dap-Kings know how to perform on stage as well – right down to dressing up. Sharon pulled guys on stage to dance with her (I call this the “Reverse Springsteen”), and invited a group of girls to join her as well. The performance highlight was towards the end, when Sharon showed off her dance moves talking about her ancestors (don’t remember the name of the song). Unfortunately, a lot of fans had left by the time they took the stage, and many more continued to file out throughout the set. They missed a fun hour of music.

Summary
One of the great things about going to festivals or shows (or really, anything in life), is the beauty of the unexpected – when you go into a situation not knowing what to expect, or having low expectations, and then seeing something phenomenal. For me, Flynn and Jones’s performances rank near the top for “best unexpected performances” at a live show. Seeing Matthew Barber open for Chris Isaak in 2007 probably rounds out the list. Their shows, my first time hearing Flynn’s music, Plaskett’s excellent sets and a great rendition of “The Swimming Song” with Loudon and Danny are what I’ll likely remember when I think back to Folk Fest ’09. It was a great (half) weekend of music, sunshine and friends; I think I’ll be back next year.

We were within 60 miles of the festival and Tim was driving when he noticed that Cecelia (our veggie-oil-powered Ford Diesel van) was running rough.  The pressure gauge on the clean tank was too high and he stopped so we could change the clean tank filter.

This is after 10 hours of numb-headed driving.  This is Day Four of Randy’s non-stop fever (including Wednesday when our friend Griffin had to play drums in his place for the show in Marquette, MI) and he had been sweating on my lap the whole time with a red Rothbury handkerchief full of ice on his forehead.

With the new clean filter and the heat of the humid lingering night the oil pumped faster than normal and soon I noticed a heat and smell that was strange and strong.  I looked into the back of the van and sure enough, the tank had overflowed, splattering our instrument cases with vegetable oil.

We pulled over on the side of the road and began pulling everything out, mopping it all off with paper towels and sopping the leak up with yesterday’s newspaper.  Just then it started to rain.  We raced to get the stuff back in the can and jumped back in to drive the rest of the way to 10,000 Lakes Music Festival.  We were completely spent before we even arrived.

We pulled into the fest around 1:30 am and the gatekeeper couldn’t find our credentials so we just set up tents and put ourselves to bed for a few hours before waking to face the hot busy day.

The Everyone Orchestra

Friday morning we scraped together some sense of decency, combed our greasy hair into place, medicated with caffeine and pain relievers, checked Randy’s temp (which was finally back to normal!) and headed to the Field Stage.  There we met Matt Butler (our conductor) from Hot Buttered Rum, Steve Kimmock and his son, Reese and Trevor from Tea Leaf Green, Dominick from Big Gigantic, and Ryan from Fat Maw Rooney.  This was the Everyone Orchestra and it began without sound check or explanation, just a drum beat and a cue card which said, “Legato Marching Tempo”.

Throughout the hour and a half performance, Matt continued to hold up signs, jump, point, wave his arms wildly and lead the crowd in chants, sing-alongs and rhythms.  Signs said things like “Chaos for 8 bars”, “Up a 1/2 Step!”, ‘HOOK” (which means create a melody everyone can join in on), “Blow Heads Off!”, “Trade Solos”,  “f@%^ IT UP!”, and my favorite: “Chunk” (whatever that means!)

About mid-way through the set, during one of my frantic “Disco in A”  solos, Matt held up a sign that  that said “Follow Erin Wherever She Goes!  Sure enough, on the count of four, everyone dropped out.  I kept my bow moving like I was steering a boat around an iceberg, and led them (however awkwardly) into a 2-step in G.  The drummer had let me know clearly before the show how much he hates two-steps, ad I didn’t really mean to go there, but it was my natural instinct in a moment of near panic.

The experience overall was exactly like my first skiing experience. My boyfriend took me on the big hill after only one tumbly run down the bunnyhill. Somehow, without the skills to stop or even turn very well, I made it to the bottom.  I couldn’t say that it wasn’t fun – exhilarating even! – and I was quite proud of myself just for doing it.  But this is the stuff of nightmares to be truthful.  Unstoppable momentum that I can’t control or predict; new skills that I have to master in public with everyone around watching and depending on me – the speed!  the terror!

Really, I can’t wait to do it again!  I smiled and danced and didn’t hit a tree and I made it to the bottom with a big “Ta-Dah!!” and the audience cheered.  But as soon as I could break away I hid in the van and cried.  There was no escaping the heat or the depth of my fatigue after four nights of nursing my poor hubby with very little sleep and there was only a few hours before I had to be bright and shiny again for The Ragbirds performance on the Saloon Stage.

The Ragbirds show was easy.  I t was on my own terms – my own songs – and the crowd was thick and enthusiastic.  It was over so fast and after the mad rush at the merch table I stumbled back to the van – our home-sweet-home.  I crashed hard and fast once I got the van windows lined with blankets and a little nest of a bed made up on the seats.

Saturday’s Best Laid Plans

Randy and I had planned to sit in with Mark Murphy (of WookieFoot) for his acoustic set on the campground stage in the afternoon and then gather everyone and drive part way home. It’s a fourteen hour drive from Detroit Lakes, MN to home and we wanted to break it up into two manageable chunks.  The show with Mark was improvisational with just a three minute talk through, but it was so much easier for me than the Everyone Orchestra was because the tunes were familiar and there was so much love on and around that stage.  Plus it helped that I had gotten at least a little sleep.  In some ways this felt redemptive.

After the show we picked up our merchandise, said goodbye to our friends and headed off towards home.  Less than ten miles from the fest, we were going about 65 MPH on Hwy 10 when a deer ran out from the tall grass on the roadside, colliding with the van head on.  The airbag went off in a cloud of smoke, bruising Randy’s arm, but still he guided Cecelia to the shoulder where we stepped out into a nightmare of bugs, knee high grass and a smashed mess of metal, glass, blood and guts (just the deer’s! – we were all ok!) I was overcome with emotion and I fell into the ditch crying hysterically.  It was too much for me! (even though I knew, even then, that there is no such thing.)  I was being eaten alive by bugs.  They were stuck to the tears on my face.  None of us could think clearly.

The Rescue!

The police and tow truck arrived immediately and we were rushed into a series of difficult decisions.  It was pretty clear that we were lucky to be alive.  With the tow truck driver watching, saying “tick-tock”,  I chose the things I would carry with me to survive for the next unknown amount of time, knowing that at least for the night, we would be camping.

We called all of our friends back at the festival and one by one their voicemails lined up to take our message, until finally a cheerful real live voice answered “Jo Jo Ho and a bottle of Rum!”  – It was Jo Jo from WookieFoot and he immediately got help on the wires and activated the crew to pick us up.

Mark Murphy called when he got our message and said “Well, there must be some reason God wants you to stay!” From that moment on I began looking for the reason.

Searching for The Reason

When Rick came to pick us up in his big clean van I realized that in my haste I had only changed one of my shoes and was wearing a mismatched pair.  We packed our gear and suitcases into the van and chatted while we were taxied back to the festival grounds.  I gave Rick a copy of our CD and he put it right in and started right into raving about how much he liked it.

We pulled up at the fest and were unloading our gear on the side of the road when JO JO pulled up in his flower-and-prayer-flag decorated golf cart with big hugs and free beer for us.  He took Randy and I on his ride to “Gramma’s” trailer (Gramma is a tall skinny blond man named James who runs WookeFoot’s merch and is a major player on their team.)  Once inside he pulled out this beautiful mysterious earthen jar, intricately carved with lions and symbols, corked with a thick wooden lid.  He explained how he and Mark had made this Moonshine five years ago and buried it in the ground at Harmony Park, and how they unearthed it this year in ritualistic fashion.  “This is serious family stuff right here” he said as he uncorked it and passed it first to me.  It was rich with ginger and herbs – a delicious burn that felt like magic.  (Maybe this is why we are here -  I thought.)

After a second sip we got back into the golf cart and Jo Jo drove us wildly through the crowds of people to the stage where Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings were playing.  Along the way he told us that Rick, our van/taxi driver, is a valuable contract and programming director  for Clear Channel.  (Again I thought – Maybe this is why we are here – just to pass our CD along to someone who just might happened to be “the right hands”)

We pulled closer to the mad funky sound of the Dap Kings and Sharon Jones put me under her spell.  The beer and moonshine were flowing in me and I began to dance, thinking ‘maybe this is why we are here’ – to loosen up – to relax, to have fun and just dance!

Randy held me close and told me how much he loves me and misses having time to just hang out with me.  We walked hand in hand together to get some food, smooching and being sweet and all the while I was thinking “maybe this is why we are here” – just to reconnect and have time together. The weather was perfect and we shared some Chinese food together on a picnic bench laughing about the day and telling stories, trying not to think about poor Cecelia.

The Musical Golf Cart Parade

A little while later Jo Jo called to invite us to meet him nearby to be a part of a parade.  We rushed over to where the golf carts were lined up and two guys (Josh and Charles) showed up with dununs and two extra djembes (one that was small and light – the perfect size for me!).  We donned our drums and hopped into a golf cart, all four of us drummers, with a pink gorilla driving and a dreadlocked glitter fairy in the passenger seat.  A bagpiper started the drone and the parade took off.  A long line of golf carts full of freaks and hippies began a slow procession through crowds of onlookers. We drummed as we rolled through a long lit tunnel, up and down hills, surrounded by strangers with glow sticks, glowing toys and masks.  A unicycle paced us on our right and a dancing sprightly man with a cowbell played along on the right.  Every time we stopped, we gathered into a circle around fire spinners and dancers and provided the beat, then jumped back into our carts and the parade rolled on.

At the second stop we gathered in a circle again and Jo Jo hushed the crowd.  He said “Everyone!  I want you to know that there is a band here called The Ragbirds. . . ” (people cheered) “They crashed into a deer on the way out of here!” (a collective “oh No!”) “. . . and now they’re here leading the drum circle!” (another loud cheer!)

We were having such fun – this colorful, juggling, hugging family picked us up, took care of our needs, eased our minds, entertained us, included us, blessed us, cheered for us and we were overwhelmed with gratitude. I couldn’t help but wonder if this was why we were here.

At the third and final stop we got out and gathered in a tent full of glow-in-the-dark pillows and mushrooms, paintings of trees and flowers, a man playing piano, two glowing aliens and more fire spinners.  Mark Murphy led a drunken chorus of Irish drinking songs and the bagpiper (Patrick) let me sip some Wild Turkey.  I kept showing people my mismatched shoes for a good laugh here and there.  We stayed up most of the night and danced our way into sleep.

The WookieFoot Family

Sunday morning we woke with headaches – desperate for water, sweating in the hot sun, hungry, confused, exhausted.  We walked into the festival grounds, but all the vendors had packed up shop.  We had no food, no water, no means to get around and no idea what to do.  So we called Gramma.  He brought us to WookieFoot’s camp where we were showered with gifts.  One woman brought peaches and plums and a case of water.  Another gave us Vitamin Water and paper towels.  A photographer from Ohio named Itamar brought us cherries and let us look at his festival photos in the shade while we waited for Vito to cook a “Dirty Bastard Wootang Pancake Breakfast”.  They played Wootang Clan loudly on a nearby car stereo with the doors open and offered us pancakes & agave, Tofurkey sausages and omelets.  We ate with our fingers and I fashioned a tin can into a cup for coffee.  We met so many kind people in the sunlight of that campsite and our family suddenly seemed that much bigger. (is this why we are here?)

Then Rod Volker rolled up in his golf cart, shouting “Where’s The Ragbirds?!”  and he put his arms out to hug us.  He’s something like the production manager of 10,000 Lakes – top of the chain – and he was here to help (is this why we are here?)

We packed up camp and ate fruit in the shade of the canopy that our neighbors left behind, sitting on the partly broken chairs that Evan “groundscored” while we waited for Rod to come back in a van and take us to our hotel.  He arrived with a friend and we gave them each a copy of our CD as they drove us into town.

Paper Bird and the Kind Mechanic

I picked up a dice game called “Farkel” and some snacks at the gas station next to the hotel and when I came out there was a familiar bus at the gas pump filling up.  It was Paper Bird’s funky painted (andveggie-oil converted) schoolbus!  I ran over and introduced myself and we exchanged CDs. We learned that they are from Denver and that they travel with 9 people and 3 little dogs in an amazing home on wheels.  Their bus had hard wood floors, hanging plants, maps, photos and all kinds of hard-earned road decor.  It was so fun to meet them and chat, I couldn’t help but think ‘is this why we are here?’.

We went back to the hotel and zoned out to the t.v., rolling dice till we all fell asleep.  The next day the mechanic fixed our functional problems, brought the van over to our hotel and handed us the keys – free of charge!  We picked up the trailer from the tow yard and headed home, never the worse for wear.

Cecelia passed the test – the trial by fire – and proved herself road-worthy.  She is a little uglier now – half her face demolished and her right eye gauged out – but she brought us back to our doorstep safely.   And with a little help from friends and strangers, we discovered the real reason we had to suffer this small catastrophe: to live and be grateful to have survived – and to learn to accept the mercy and blessings of God through the hands of men.

Mark this down in your calendar folks: Sunday, August 9th 2009.  It’s the 10th Annual Burnaby Blues & Roots Festival at Deer Lake Park.  Now as a 26 year old with an older soul when it comes to music I am really looking forward to this event… but even if you haven’t listened to much blues or roots music in the past I recommend you come to the festival anyways, you wont be disappointed.

I’m not one of those music know it all’s who tries to tell everyone who they should listen to and why.  I don’t pretend to know the origin of where most styles of music came from.  And I believe that no matter how crappy I think a group is (Pussycat Dolls) I have no right to tell you what you are allowed to enjoy.  However, in my opinion (and it’s only my opinion) I feel that blues and roots should at least be given some credit as the basis for a lot of the music that is popular today.  Take The White Stripes, The Black Keys, The Black Crowes, The Raconteurs… I guess any band with the word “The” in it, they all have a blues & roots feel to the music they create, and a lot of people who enjoy that music today don’t realize where it all came from.  So if you like any of those bands, are just a lover of live music, or want a bit of an education on where rock music originated from this should be a concert you will enjoy.

The festival is Sunday, although there will be artists preforming at different venues around  Burnaby on Friday and Saturday as it has been extended to a 3 day event of sorts.  The artists include Rich Hope, Keb Mo, JJ Grey and Mofro, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, and the headliner Smokey Robinson.  If you haven’t been to Deer Lake before it has a beautiful natural amphitheater with a lake nestled behind the stage.  The City of Burnaby and BC government have recently put a combined 1.7 million into making it a premier outdoor venue.

Tickets are only $45 for the day and this is the type of festival you can take your kids or parents to without worry of a “sketchy” crowd being around.  Hope to see you there!

Cheers!

jordenf

Top 20 Albums of June 2009

1. Bob Marley and the Wailers – B Is For Bob [Tuff Gong/Def Jam/Island Records 2009]
2. Various Artists – Dark Was The Night (Red Hot Compilation) [The Red Hot Organization/4AD 2009]
3. N.A.S.A. – The Spirit Of Apollo [Anti/Epitaph 2009]
4. Alborosie – Escape From Babylon [Greensleeves 2009]
5. Dave Matthews Band – Big Whiskey And The GrooGrux King [Bama Rags 2009]
6. The Itals – Let Dem Talk [Ital Records 2009]
7. Conor Oberst & the Mystic Valley Band – Outer South [Merge 2009]
8. DJ JS-1 – No Sellout [Ground Original 2009]
9. The Dub Machinist – Worldwide Dub [Control Tower France 2009]
10. Various Artists - Reggae Gold 2009 [VP Records 2009] 
11. Ini Kamoze – 5150 Rule [Hottis 2009]
12. Amadou & Mariam – Welcome to Mali [Nonesuch 2009]
13. Los Granadian del Espacio Exterior – Donde Ningun Hombre Ha Llegado Jamas [Liquidator Spain 2009]
14. Method Man & Redman – Blackout! 2 [Explicit] [Island/Def Jam 2009]
15. Regina Spektor – Far [Sire 2009]
16. Black Eyed Peas – The E.N.D. (The Energy Never Dies) [Interscope 2009]
17. 311 – Uplifter [RCA/Jive 2009]
18. The Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca[Domino Recording 2009]
19. Natural Black – Guardian Angel [Zion Roots Music 2009]
20. Sonic Youth – The Eternal [Matador 2009]
21. Paul Wall – Fast Life [Explicit] [Asylum/WB 2009] 

“Life is one big road with lots of signs,” Bob sings “So when your riding through the ruts don’t you complicate your mind.” On this album we see why Bob Marley and the Wailers ruled the world of reggae music, especially with roots reggae tracks like “Wake Up And Live – Pt. 1.”  On the new album B Is For Bob executive producer Ziggy Marley reworked some of the Bob Marley classics giving them a kid friendly edge. The album pulsates with positive vibrations. A stripped down acoustic version of “Three Little Birds” leads off the album followed by a classic acoustic version of “Redemption Song.” These two songs make for fun summer road trip  sing-a-longs. I found the version of “Satisfy My Soul” to be very sensual and in my opinion this song could be one of the best lovers’ rock tracks ever cut. A bongo almost-dancehall infused “Jamming” and new takes on “Small Axe,” “Bend Down Low” and “Stir It Up” fill out this nice addition to the Bob Marley discography. “Could You Be Loved” and “One Love / People Get Ready” also fit perfect with the kid album theme. “High Tide Or Low Tide” excellently caps off the work.

Finding their way to the top of the Jam-Tex music charts this June are a cadre of Indie-rockers and rappers. The benefit album and compilation Dark Was The Night (Red Hot Compilation) and the N.A.S.A. hip-hop project The Spirit Of Apollo. Dark Was The Night (Red Hot Compilation) includes indie rockers collaborating to make wonderful music and really this album needs to be listened to in its entirety for the best effect. The Dirty Projectors team up with David Byrne on “Knotty Pine,” while Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings provide some soulful “Inspiration Information.” The Decemberists perform “Sleepless,” while Feist and Ben Gibbard team up on “Train Song.” Iron & Wine, Andrew Bird, My Morning Jacket, and Arcade Fire all appear on the album.

On N.A.S.A.’s The Spirit Of Apollo George Clinton and Chali 2na Fish rock “There’s A Party (Feat. George Clinton & Chali 2na)” and dancheall wonder Sizzla joins Lovefoxxx, and the nasty female rapper Amanda Blank on the track “A Volta (Feat. Sizzla, Amanda Blank & Lovefoxxx).” My favorite duo on any of these indie compilations appears on the N.A.S.A. album when Tom Waits and Kool Keith collaborate on “Spacious Thoughts (Feat. Tom Waits & Kool Keith)”. M.I.A., Santogold, Nick Zinner, and Spank Rock drive the electro-rap jam “Whachadoin? (Feat. Spank Rock, M.I.A., Santogold & Nick Zinner)“. The N.A.S.A. album certainly contains the most interesting lineup of artists, including David Byrne, Gift of Gab, Chuck D, DJ Z-Trip, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, KRS-One, Seu Jorge, Ras Congo, and Scarface on tracks like  ”Money (Feat. David Byrne, Chuck D, Ras Congo, Seu Jorge & Z-Trip),” “The People Tree (Feat. David Byrne, Chali 2na, Gift Of Gab & Z-Trip),” “Hip Hop (Feat. KRS-One, Fatlip & Slim Kid Tre),” “Strange Enough (Feat. Karen O, Ol’ Dirty Bastard & Fatlip),” and “The Mayor (Feat. The Cool Kids, Ghostface Killah, Scarface & DJ AM).”

Alborosie, Ini Kamoze, the Itals, and Reggae Gold 2009 provide this year’s sweltering summer reggae soundtrack. On the new Dave Matthews Band album Big Whiskey And The GrooGrux King the track “Funny The Way It Is“ proves the band is still putting out quality music. DJ JS-1 gathers some talented indie rappers on No Sellout, for example, Aesop Rock and C Ray Wallz rock the mics on “Karma Killerz.”