Music
Music Mondays – Blog Mentor, Randy Burns
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Mon, 05/24/2010 - 09:26Every Sunday evening, bloggers gather on Twitter for a #blogchat to talk about blogging. These chats cover many different topics, and last night @alisonlaw asked, “who are/were your blog mentors?”
I replied with my typical response of E.B. White. His essays for the New Yorker brought personal observations to political issues. They had an authenticity that good bloggers are striving for today.
This came back to me this morning as I prepared to write my Orient Lodge Music Review post for the week. One person who submitted his music was Randy Burns. In my book, Randy Burns is up there with E.B. White as one of those writers that bloggers, and for that matter singer/songwriters should look to as a mentor.
His biography describes the start of his career this way:
In 1966, Randy Burns was dropped off on the corner of Bleecker and MacDougal Street, with a bag over his shoulder and a guitar in his hand…ready for anything Randy had gotten his start a year earlier at The Exit Coffeehouse in New Haven, Connecticut but soon left to join the Urban Folk Revival in Greenwich Village. The first three months he slept in flop houses, on subways and park benches in Washington Square Park. Every week he played the open mic nights at the original Gerdes Folk City, The Gaslight Café and The Bitter End. Impressed by his talent, Clarence Hood, the owner of the legendary Gaslight hired Randy as the permanent opening act. At only eighteen he was opening for the biggest folk stars in the country, artists he’d only heard on records.
…
Frustrated with the music industry, Randy returned to his folksinging roots and hit the road again as a folksinger. For years he was literally homeless – ‘It would have been a waste of money,” he says, “I was singing so many places that I’d leave a bag of clothes wherever I usually played so I could travel light.” A headliner at Kenny’s Castaways, in the late 70s, owner Pat Kenny arranged for Randy to tour Ireland. It was off to Dublin, where he played coast to coast two years in a row.
It wasn’t until the early 80s that I started visiting the clubs in Greenwich Village, so I probably missed him there. A little over a year ago, he did a concert at the First Presbyterian Church in New Haven. I missed that concert as well. It was my loss, but it did stop the hall from filling up to capacity.
The first song in his Electronic Press Kit is “The Simple Things”. It starts off, “I’ve always loved the simple things. And I guess I’ll always will”. I’m with Randy on that. Reading some E.B. White, listening to some of Randy Burns songs, these are parts of the simple things for me, and are also important factors shaping my writing.
It’s time for a new generation to discover Randy Burns. He has a new album coming out next month, and he will be participating in the Folk City at Fifty early next month. They are well worth checking out.
Music Monday - Jill Cagney, The Ultimate Mommy Bloggers’ Folk Musician
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Mon, 05/17/2010 - 09:05Jill Cagney is the ultimate Mommy Bloggers’ Folk Musician. I came across her music as I was reviewing the Sonic Bids Submissions to the Orient Lodge Music Review. In terms of music, hers was not my favorite. It was not the most polished best written material out there, but it had a feeling of edgy authenticity that could not, and should not be overlooked.
I guess this is part of the reason I think of Ms. Cagney as the ultimate Mommy Bloggers’ Folk Musician. There are many Mommy Bloggers that I love to read on a regular basis that are also not the most polished best written material out there, but also have a feeling of edgy authenticity that needs to be paid attention to.
Beyond this, Ms. Cagney describes herself not only as a musician, but also as a “social worker, mother, writer, and surprisingly good pool player!” I tend to think that any good mother, or sufficiently involved father is likely to feel some kinship with Ms. Cagney. While we might not be professional social workers, once our kids get to the point of play dates, Queen Bees, and first crushes, we end up doing a little bit of social work as part of our parenting, and if we write authentically about what is going on in our lives, we just might echo a little bit of Ms. Cagney’s voice.
Anyone with kids is likely to recognize themselves saying words like Ms. Cagney in her song Kids:
Trying to keep up with you is like trying to run a marathon in a high heeled shoe
It's like trying to catch a dragonfly with a fishing pole
What goes on in your head I just don't know
Those of us who spend a lot of time online are also likely to find some of the words in her song “Facebook” about fifteen hundred forty-three friends and photoshopping ones overbite sound very close to home. You can become a fan of her on Facebook.
On Facebook, or Jill Cagney’s website you can find out that she will be playing at the City Ale House in Danbury, CT on June 11th and then at Rockin Joes in Westfield, NJ on June 17th. Later in the year, she will be appearing at Indiegrrl Conference and Festival in Knoxville.
So, if you like edgy authenticity, take a moment to check out some of Jill Cagney’s music.
#FF
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Fri, 05/14/2010 - 09:55@RobDrabkin @nhso @ripple100 @andreayap @AmyDesmarais @jwierin @shesosocial @JaymesGrace @timtracey @followcb @MatthewBrowning
It may seem strange to include @RobDrakin, an obscure rock musician from Denver Colorado and the New Haven Symphony Orchestra which has been performing in New Haven for over a century, but there is actually an important theme.
Recently, I wrote a blog post entitled High Speed Social Fiber. It was about New Haven’s efforts to be a test bed for Google’s High Speed Fiber project. I mentioned how @andreayap and @ripple100 have been working with others to promote New Haven using social media. I suggested it is strengthening the social fiber of New Haven, whether or not New Haven gains the benefits of Google’s Fiber.
Thanks to Andre and Ripple100, a group of people interested in the use of social media to strengthen the fiber of communities attended last night’s performance by the New Haven Symphony Orchestra. It was a great performance.
As I listened to the majesty of Beethoven’s Eighth and Ninth Symphonies, I thought of the themes running together; starting in the violins, echoed in the basses, taken up by the horns. It reflected, for me, the nature of social media. While there is something beautiful about a solo violin, or a single message online, there is also great beauty achieved when the message or theme is repeated and moves from section to section. It applies to a symphony of social media as well as it does to a classical symphony. The folks that Andrea and Ripple100 gathered for the symphony last night are some of the best performers in the social media space.
So, what does this have to do with Rob? He, like Katie Garibaldi whom I mentioned last week, is a young musician who is using Twitter to promote his music. Will he join with other online musicians to create some sort of new symphony of social media? I hope so.
Music Monday - The Sweet Colleens
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Mon, 05/10/2010 - 07:53The first group that I want to highlight as part of my new Music Monday Orient Lodge Music Review is The Sweet Colleens, but before I get into talking much about them, I want to talk a little bit more about what I am doing with The Orient Lodge Music Review.
Orient Lodge is a blog that I’ve been writing since 2004. I’ve been getting around 15,000 page views a month as I write about an eclectic mix of topics. Recently, I decided to do a lot more music reviews here, and my goal is to pick one group a week to highlight. Some weeks, I might not get around to it. Other weeks, there might be a couple groups that I want to highlight at the same time.
I am accepting submissions on the Orient Lodge Sonic Bids page. For the first three months, I’ve committed to highlighting at least five groups, but I expect the number will be closer to twelve. In the first few days, I’ve received around thirty submissions. I’ve listened to all the songs for on the majority of submissions so far, and I’m building a list of who I intend to highlight on a week by week basis. This list will shift as I get new submissions.
It won’t be a typical music review. I’m more interested in talking about personal reactions to the music and to the intersection of the music, the performers, and our own experiences.
With that, let me talk a little bit about The Sweet Colleens. The first song in their Electronic Press Kit (EPK) on Sonicbids, is Wraggle Taggle, featuring Michael Doucet, from their CD Half a Mile From Home.
It is also known as “The Gypsy Laddie” and can be found as ballad 200 in the Child Collection. The Child Collection was published in the end of the nineteenth century and contained three hundred and five ballads from England and Scotland.
The first Child Ballad I remember hearing about was “The Great Silkie”, Child #113. If I recall properly, it was mentioned in the book Drifters, by James Michner. One of the drifters was a folk singer who sang that song. Prior to that, I had often heard the song Barbara Allen, which is Child #84, but I didn’t know it was from the Child collection
The Sweet Colleens rendition of The Gypsy Laddie has a special touch, with Michael Doucet of BeauSoliel playing on it. I’ve long enjoyed BeauSoliel’s music, and a touch of Cajan added to a great border ballad works really well.
Another song that The Sweet Colleens has in their EPK, also from the “Half Mile from Home” CD is “Wild Mountain Thyme”. This song was written by Francis McPeake and has been a long time favorite of mine, with many great folk musicians having performed it. They have a wonderful rendition of it.
On the same CD they also have their version of “The L&N Don't Stop Here Anymore” by Jean Ritchie. This is a song about the woes of coal miners that has been covered by musicians from Johnny Cash to Michele Shocked. After the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster, folk songs about the woes of coal miners are coming again to the forefront.
In January, they came out with a new kids CD, The Monkey Dance. The music is good, but I’ll leave the reviewing of those songs to my youngest kid.
So, I’m pleased to start off my new series by highlighting a really fun group that digs back to early English and Scottish ballads and presents it, along with more recent music, in a way that is truly enjoyable. Check out their CD. If you live in Minnesota, check them out at Kieran’s Irish Pub. Then, come back next week to see who I highlight next.
#ff
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Fri, 05/07/2010 - 17:08@katiegaribaldi @viennateng @aidenjamestour @iHobo @songsalive
I’ve been busy with a collection of technology and music issues during the day, and haven’t really gotten a good chance to write a long blog post. So, I’m doing a simple Follow Friday blog post talking about some musicians on Twitter.
Recently, I entered an agreement with Sonicbids to review emerging artists that submit their electronic press kits for me to review. Typically, there is a page with a brief biography, and perhaps a few links, a page with half a dozen songs, and a few other related pages. Often people include links to other pages they have online. MySpace and ReverbNation tend to top the list. Every once in a while, I find a link to Twitter or Facebook.
The first person to submit their music to me was Katie Garibaldi. Since she submitted her music, I’ve received about two dozen other submissions, so I’m still going through them and trying to decide who I’ll highlight on Monday. However, besides being first, Katie also has links to her twitter account, @katiegaribaldi and her Facebook Fan Page. I’ve followed her in both places and encourage others to do the same.
Her bio also mentions that she “volunteers as the San Francisco chapter coordinator of the non-profit organization that supports artists and songwriters, Songsalive”. (@songsalive)
With this as a starting point, I thought I would highlight a few other musicians whom I like that are on Twitter. They are all musicians that I heard at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. They include @viennateng, @aidenjamestour and @iHobo. I’ve added all of these into my music list on Twitter.
Check out these fine musicians, and if you follow other good musicians I should follow on Twitter, let me know.
