Listing Details
| ID: | 918 |
| Title: | Music Road |
| URL: | http://www.musicroad.blogspot.com/ |
| Category: | Entertainment: Music |
| Description: | Folk, roots, country, and Celtic music from many different neighbourhoods, and sometimes, from behind the scenes. |
| history into song: capercaillie: glenfinnan - Mon, 21 May 2012 12:14:00 +0000 |
| Putting history into song is a long tradition. It makes sense that they should intertwine: both hold the capability for vivd storytelling, and of connecting people across time, space, and country. The Scotland based band Capercaillie is known for connecting the music of Scotland with that of other countries and continents. For the film Glenfinnan, though, they focused on the stories surrounding a major event in the history of Scotland: the raising of the standard by Highlanders who would follow Charles Edward Stuart -- Bonnie Prince Charlie -- into battle in attempt to restore the house of Stuart to the monarchy. The first raising of the standard to place at Glenfinnan, in 1745. The program, from which this video was taken, was shot there. It’s also instructive in the making of visual statements with music. Sure, it took some production values to get the fire and the flames and the night lighting and the stage on the water, but compared to many music videos common today, this one is quite straightforward, and lets the visual aspect enhance the music rather than compete with it. It was made in 1995, and still holds impact.  I was fortunate to see the whole film during a Gaelic Film Festival which was part of Celtic Connections several years back, and the whole thing is equally powerful. As far as I can tell, the film isn’t available. The music Capercaillie made for it is, though, and it is certainly powerful enough for you to create your own images while listening.Glenfinnan (Songs of the '45)  you may also wish to see Capercaillie: Roses& Tears Scott-Land at Celtic Connections Celtic Connections 2012: the music begins  |
| music and trust - Fri, 18 May 2012 09:38:00 +0000 |
| How does trust show up in music? All through the listening, performing, and making of music, when you stop to consider it. As a performer, it’s an act of trust in those who have come to listen: that they will hear you, that you’ll connect with them, that theywilllisten. It is also an act of trust in yourself, that you have gifts to share, and that you will do your part in connecting with your listeners.  “I’m the same person on stage as I am off stage. When you’re on stage, you have to be yourself. You have to be authentic. If you’re not, audiences can tell that a mile off, and then you’ve lost them.” -- Irish American singer and songwriter Cathie Ryan In writing music, in recording it and taking all the steps to get recordings released, you have to trust your own voice and commitment, and just as you do on stage, you have to trust others who work with you. You also have to trust those who listen. “In songwriting, there’s a line between being true, and being too personal. My songs aren’t my diaries: I have my diaries for that. But I use the details of my own life, my own experiences, to find words and stories for experiences we both share, stories that people will recognize, and think ah, I’ve felt that way, but I didn't have the words for it.” -- Americana singer and songwriter Carrie Newcomer  As a listener, it is an act of trust to give time and attention to what a musician has to offer. It is also an act of trust to follow those ideas where they may lead, be that to contemplation, action, laughter, or maybe dancing -- it is an act of trust all around to let music move you.“A good song is powerful -- three minutes, and you come out of it and know you see the world a little differently. It’s rearranged your DNA.” -- country and folk songwriter Gretchen Peters. Over at her siteNancy Marmolejo. has been considering how trust and vulnerability show up in businesswhen your business is being a coach or a mentor. Thanks to Nancy for the idea of exploring ways this plays out in music. As always, your comments are welcome. you may also wish to see music and telling the long story music and meditation Best Music, 2011  |
| Some Bright Morning from Rani Arbo&daisy mayhem - Tue, 08 May 2012 21:17:00 +0000 |
| Faith. That may be a fulcrum, a stepping stone, a question, a guide. All those ideas of faith find their places in the music Rani Arbo& daisy mayhem have chosen for their albumSome Bright Morning. They kick things off with a high stepping high spirited take on the gospel shouter Hear Jerusalem Moan with new words written by folk bluegrass jazz musician Joe Craven. ”When we heard Joe Craven’s agnostic gospel rewrite of this bluegrass classic we knew it was for us,” Arbo says. With lyrics like “Well, spiritual people are a thinking people, Their mind’s a church and their heart’s a steeple “ and others that given nods to the wisdom of Mother Earth and the wind in the trees, you have to know they made the right choice. It’s also a very fine way to share the band’s high energy side, and the clarity and  wisdom with which they play together. Wisdom? Yes. That is a word that works here. The four members of the band -- Arbo, on fiddle; Andrew Kinsey on bass, ukulele, and banjo; Anand Nayak on electric and acoustic guitars, Scott Kessel on percussion; they all sing -- have been working together for twelve years now. With backgrounds which include bagpipes, African percussion, choral work on ancient music, and street busking, they share respect for the handed down nature of folk music and for the immediacy of music’s connection with the present. The respect and affection they share for each other comes through clearly in their music as well.Following on the fast pace of Jerusalem Moan comes Bridges, a song Arbo wrote which takes in floods breaking physical bridges and life breaking bridges of the heart. It’s a reflective, poetic piece for which Arbo’s smoky alto is well suited.  Life, death, change, love -- all subjects where faith is involved and needed, all things which come up in the music here. I’ll Fly Away, a traditional song about death and the future, finds Nayak taking a powerful lead, something he also does on the band’s cover of Bruce Springsteen’s Reason to Believe. There’s wisdom in instrumental music, too, which you may hear in Andrew Kinsey’s original tune called Fall River. It sets a thoughtful stage for Arbo’s take on a setting of Alfred Lord Tennyson's’ Crossing the Bar, which resonates, from a very different musical place, with I’ll Fly Away. There are twelve tracks on the album, each one of them a keeper. Though each stands clearly on its own, each part of a vibrant story of the range of questions -- and occasionally answers --encompassed by faith. Great music, great ideas, thoughtful subjects and at times a good bit of high spirited fun -- all reasons to listen to this one, and to listeni again as its stories continue to unfold. you may also wish to see music for parents& children: Rani Arbo& daisy mayhem easter eve: rani arbo& daisy mayhem: house be blessed photographing music, continued  |