Live Review - 7/23/2011 Della Mae at Passim

I dubbed Della Mae the break-out band of this year's Grey Fox, and they did not disappoint in their late pre-release show for their forthcoming album, I Built This Heart. Even the minor criticism I had of their Grey Fox set - that the guitar breaks of newcomer Courtney Hartman were too quiet and disrupted the group's dynamics - were addressed; her skillful solos sounded great and did not disrupt the group's dynamics.  The group was all loose and lively, it being their second set of the evening.  Most of the songs were originals by lead singer / rhythm guitarist Celia Woodsmith, but the group also played some covers - Bill Monroe's "Muleskinner Blues," Hank Williams' "Hey, Good-Lookin,'" and Flatt & Scruggs' "Big Spike Hammer," from which the group gets its name.  The originals stole the show, though, from the bouncy "Jamie Dear" to the dark "From the Bottle" to the delicate "I Built This Heart."  Woodsmith sings with a passion rare in bluegrass music, and the rest of the group - bassist Amanda Kowalski, fiddler Kimber Ludiker, and mandolinist Jenni Lyn Gardner - were matching her intensity with their playing.

Opening act Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum did a short, tasteful set, with their spare two-person sound complementing The Carter Family's "Texas Girl" or original tune "The Oak and the Laurel."  For their last tune, traditional "Ain't Gonna Work Tomorrow," they showed their spry side, bringing Kowalski and Ludiker on to jam.  Later, they joined Della Mae for a few tunes, including a barn-raising version of "Bowling Green."

It was a memorable night; look for a forthcoming preview of Della Mae's new album!

Della Mae official site
Laurie Lewis official site

Still Lost Bird Music - Sargent Egyptian Girl

Rating: B+

Still Lost Bird Music is the solo pop vehicle for Simon Fink, a classically trained composer.  One would think the music would reflect that classical training, but Sargent Egyptian Girl, his debut album, is more steeped in American rock and pop than Italian arias and German symphonies: the opening finger-picked guitar riff evokes The Replacements' "Unsatisfied"; the guitar solo in "The Dream of Falling" suggests Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues"; the various "la"s and "bop"s pay homage to pop music from Phil Spector to the Counting Crows.  But the album that this ultimately makes me think of is Wilco's Summerteeth.  Summerteeth is almost a lost gem, a pop masterpiece nestled between the alt-country of Being There and A.M. and the experimental genius of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and subsequent albums.  Like Summerteeth, Sargent Egyptian Girl carries both of those influences - "Chocolate Heart" is permeated by fiddle riffs, while "French Lessons" is drenched in effects and synths.  And like Summerteeth, Sargent Egyptian Girl is peopled with perfectly-crafted tunes, with the lyrics, melody, production and deliverable working together.

"Take This Town" is my favorite track on the album, a gorgeous stark tune keyed by gentle acoustic guitar and lyrics that paint a portrait of loneliness and disenchantment.  Another strong track is bubblegum closer "Wet Paint," which features triple entendre lyrics.  "It's about painting a room."  "Wait, it's a metaphor!"  "Wait ... I think it's about painting a room after all."  It's clever and catchy.  The album shows diversity, stretching from the fuzzed out post-relationship recriminations of the title track to the quirky funk of "Coin Star" to the psychedelic melancholy of "Water Border."  It's a strong collection of tunes, and Fink is skilled at several instruments and capturing the essence of the songs in the studio.

Still Lost Bird Music's second album, August, is coming out in about a month.  If Sargent Egyptian Girl is any indication, it will be one to look forward to.

Still Lost Bird Music official site

Live Review - 7/14/2011 - 7/17/2011 Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival

This was my eighth Grey Fox and the festival just keeps getting better.  This year had an embarrassment of riches; it seemed like every time slot had competing acts of great interest.  The downside was that there weren't really any new discoveries this year; who has time for new bands when the bands you know are so awesome?
The death of fiddle great Kenny Baker was definitely on the minds of many of the artists and fans at the festival.  There was a formal tribute on Friday, but there were many artists who played a Baker tune as a tribute, including three versions of "Jerusalem Ridge."  Friday's fiddle workshop at one point turned into the panelists swapping Kenny Baker stories.

Some highlights through the weekend:

• It was a coming-out party for Boston-based Della Mae, fresh on the heels of recording their newest album I Built This Heart.  They were everywhere the first two days of the festival, with a workshop gig, a main stage appearance, and a set at the dance tent.  The dance tent set was a firestorm, showing the group's power and variety.  The only quibble was that the band had to quiet down to hear the virtuoso flatpicking of Courtney Hartman, disrupting some of the dynamics.
• Chris Thile and Michael Daves' collaboration Sleep With One Eye Open is one of my favorite albums of the year, and their set did not disappoint.  Thile gave a sneak preview with an amazing set at the workshop tent, showing his range (from Bill Monroe tunes to Bach) and his incomporable mandolin playing.  The set with Daves was the highlight of the main stage for me this year; Second Cousin Curly wrote a great review of their recent Boston show that does their live act more justice than I can.  Thile's improvisational skills are amazing; he hears things no one else does and makes even older tunes fresh again.
• I joked that Del McCoury should release a live album, "Del Forgets the Words To Your Favorite Tunes."  He struggled with at least three songs, but his attitude is so great he was forgiven right away.  His voice still sounds terrific and his band is amazing.
• I was hoping for mandolin masters redux (see my report from last year) with the banjo masters tent workshop, featuring Tony Trischka, J.D. Crowe, Bill Keith, and Mike Mumford.  The music was quite good, but there was a lot of talking, and they only did two jams with all four of them; most of the times they just took turns soloing.  My favorite was Mumford doing fiddle tunes on the banjo in a Kenny Baker tribute; I'm not familiar with his work but he is a master of the melodic style.
• The Infamous Stringdusters were typically excellent.  Not much to add to what I've written before, but one interesting note was dobro player Andy Hall mixing his instrument through a wah pedal.  The 'Dusters have always pushed the envelope and this seems like just another way they're doing so.

Della Mae official site
Chris Thile and Michael Daves official site
Del McCoury Band official site
Infamous Stringdusters official site

Country Music

Peter Cooper at The Tennessean wrote a funny column on how fake a lot of country music lyrics are.  I love music with some twang, but mainstream radio country spends a lot of time talking about how country it is.  In a lot of ways it's the opposite side of hip hop's coin (rappers rap about rapping a lot) - for some people, it's more about identification than the music itself.  You see that in the inverse, too - how many folks do you know who say they "like all music, except for country and rap?"

The Midway Point

I posted some New Year's Resolutions for 2011 at the beginning of the year, and as we're halfway through it's time to check in on them:

1) Playing music.  Mostly things have been going well.  White Mountain Murder Circus released its first album, which I wrote several songs for and played several instruments on (mostly fiddle).  I took three classes at Passim and have been progressing with my fiddle playing.  I'm still working on fundamental things like tone and the nuances of the fiddle; I still feel like a mandolin player trying to play fiddle.  I stopped working through Hot Licks; with Passim out of session for the summer I should pick it back up.

2) I'm killing this one.  My grand total for books read this year is 24, including The Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft, Jim Tressel's The Winner's Manual, the twelve novels of Anthony Powell's A Dance To the Music Of Time, Red Harvest, Rework, Blood Meridian, True Grit, Popular Crime (by baseball writer Bill James), The Big Sleep, Shackleton's South, Naked Lunch, I Am Legend, Ubik.  That knocks six off my Time 100 list, bringing me to 35.  I think I can average a book a week for the year (meaning I need to read 28 more), including at least 10 Time 100 books (which will get me almost halfway to my goal).  Unexpected problem: my rapid reading rate is causing me to spend too much money on Kindle books!  I'm trying to temper this by reading some free ones, such as Edith Wharton's The Age Of Innocence.

3) I set a goal of 1.5 posts per week, which would be 39 posts so far this year.  This is my 36th post of 2011, so I'm a little behind, but I've averaged two / week over the past couple months, so there's plenty of time to get on schedule.

Live Review - 6/22/2011 Deadly Gentlemen at Passim

I spent a lot of time in my review of their latest album Carry Me To Home talking about the unique vocal style of the Deadly Gentlemen, and I can honestly now say after seeing them live: I didn't get it.  Their unconventional technique is a mix of rapping / talking and singing / harmony, but rather than borne out of an inability to sing (as I previously suggested), it's an exploration of the psychedelic properties of the vocal instrument.  Imagine the surrealistic poetry and relentless rhythm of Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues" over dense melody and harmony as performed by some of the most talented musicians in the Boston acoustic scene, and you get some of the idea.

Which isn't to say it's all high-falutin', because Deadly Gentlemen are FUN.  The crowd was completely into it, especially after some of their punchier numbers like "Police."  When they announced "one more song," it seemed like they had just gotten up there; they were so entertaining, the time flew.

Most excitingly, frontman / banjo genius Dr. Greg Liszt suggested that the quintet might get a residency in Boston, playing weekly gigs at a club starting in the fall.  The Punch Brothers did this, and it helped to solidify their tightness as a group as well as allow them to experiment with anything from Bach to Radiohead.  Given that the Deadly Gentlemen features Liszt (most known from Crooked Still) as well as young turks Sam Grisman (also plays bass with his dad David Grisman's band), Dominick Leslie on the mandolin, fiddler Mike Barnett (who I saw with John McGann at Cantab), and charismatic guitarist Stash Wyslouch, they could be Boston's answer to The Infamous Stringdusters or the Punch Brothers - an uber-talented group that's constantly redefining acoustic music for the new millenium.

Check them out if they come to your town!

The Gibson Brothers - Help My Brother

Rating: B

The Gibson Brothers have been one of the most successful acts of recent years in bluegrass circles; their last five albums have all hit #1 on the Bluegrass Unlimited charts.  Somehow I've missed them through the years, both live and on recording, but with my newfound affection for their mandolin player, Joe Walsh, I thought I should check them out.  Their newest offering Help My Brother seemed like a good place to start.

They've got a great sound.  The album is all songs, no instrumentals, and it really showcases the brother harmonies.  They use harmony as a weapon in many different ways - it's a sledgehammer in "I'll Love Nobody But You" and "Singing As We Rise," bringing out the power and joy in those tunes, but it's a scalpel in "Want Vs. Need" and closer "Safe Passage," just adding a little emotional punch when the song needs it.  The brothers have different voices that complement each other; Leigh has the cleaner voice and Eric has a bluegrassier high twang.  The band is built around the vocals.  Leigh's banjo, Walsh's mandolin, and Clayton Campbell's fiddle fill in the holes, bassist Mike Barber adds percussive slaps on "Walking West To Memphis," but ultimately the players accentuate the tune.  The album is not about instrumental showmanship; it's about the songs. 

Well, how about the songs?  It's about half covers and half originals.  They do a good job mixing up the pace; opener "Help My Brother" and "I'll Love Nobody But You" are barn-burners, while "Talk To Me" and "Frozen In Time" are slower.  The songwriting is a bit of a mixed bag - the first few times I heard "Help My Brother" and "Dixie" I cringed at some of the lyrics ("I've been more selfish than I dog with a bone").  But after a few listens the melodies stuck in my head anyway, and the earnestness the Gibson Brothers show really sells their tunes.  "Want Vs. Need" is a great example; in lesser hands the simple moral might be considered melodramatic and saccharine, but the band really sells it with their earnestness.

The end of the album is really strong, with "One-Car Funeral" and "Safe Passage."  Both are originals; "One-Car Funeral" is a stomping lament of a wasted life that has a Carter Family honesty, while "Safe Passage" is a modal journey through the generations that is both epic and personal.  Leigh Gibson describes his family's journey from Scotland through generations of farmers to the present day, and he cleverly highlights what's the same and what's different between the generation.  It's simultaneously epic and subtle; it's really like almost nothing else.  I wish they had captured that brilliance more consistently on Help My Brother, but it's still a good album and a fun listen.

Gibson Brothers official site