The past couple weeks have been full of great music for me. For Christmas I got the Songs of America CD set, produced by Janet Reno. I got to listen to most of it while hanging out with Jerri and Mark in Minnesota for New Years. Some songs are better than others, but for the most part it's an interesting and broad collection. Highlights include performances by Andrew Bird, The Blind Boys of Alabama and Old Crow Medicine Show among others.
Also during my time with Jerri and Mark, we had the chance to see live music two nights in a row! The first night we went to The Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis and saw 3 local bands: Roma di Luna, Jeremy Messersmith and The Pines. We scored front row seats and had a great time. The stand out act for me was Jeremy Messersmith. He had a fun stage presence, witty lyrics, cool looping techniques (but not on every song), and good tunes. The other bands were also enjoyable and the night ended with The Pines and Roma di Luna coming together for Goodnight, Irene, one of my favorite songs.
The second night we went to the Turf Club in St. Paul to see legendary Spider John Koerner and Tony Glover. Again we got front row seats! It was quite a special show, clearly these guys have been playing together for years and years and they made decisions about what song to play seemingly just by glancing at each other. These two closed their set with Midnight Special (every guitar student at the Old Town School knows this classic) and then, amazingly, Goodnight, Irene! It was neat to hear a different version of the same song two nights in a row. The second act of the night was Charlie Parr. He played guitar and was accompanied by a great washboard player. They were fun to watch, too. It was just so great to see such wonderful live music with such good friends.
To continue the great music extravaganza, I volunteered at Club Passim last night for the Jim Kweskin and Geoff Muldaur show. It was a sold out show, so I didn't get to see the entire show, but some highlights included Rag Mama with Kweskin singing and Muldaur on kazoo. A big group sing-a-long ensued with Stealin', but sing-a-longs are pretty typical at Passim. 2008 is Passim's 50th Anniversary year and tomorrow they are having an all-star hootenanny with Kweskin, Muldaur, Spider John Koerner and many others. Understandably, tickets were outrageously expensive, so I'll just have to hear the stories about it the next time I'm over there.
Just when you thought the great music must be over, I have one more thing to talk about. The netflix movie I got in the mail today was Patty Griffin: Live from the Artists Den. She is one of my favorite performers and this DVD has a lot going for it. The sound quality is amazing, and her performances are great. My only issue with it is that there were about 9 cameras during the taping and the shot changes about every 5 seconds. It made the whole thing seem a little choppy, but I would say that it's worth putting on your queue if your a fan. The actual venue is beautiful and again, she doesn't disappoint in her spirited performance, or her choice of shoes.
Whew - well, I think that covers it. I'm looking forward to getting the Juno soundtrack in the mail sometime soon, and hopefully the recording of the Josh Ritter show I saw at Passim in December. Once those both get here, I'll be putting together my contribution to this round of the M6 mix-CD exchange. It should be a good one! Here's to tons more good music in 2008!
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3 comments:
WHAT AN AWESOME POST!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! By the way, we finally saw Juno Thurs. night and LOVED it! Mark and I both agreed that we should go see it again when it comes out at the Riverview because we loved it so much and would watch it again. Also, a request for the mix: if you're getting the soundtrack, can you put on the "Anyone Else But You?" I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And really want a copy of it.
I think I already have a choice for the mix, but I can just send you a copy of the soundtrack. The funniest lyric EVER written is in the song that you like:
"Squinched up your face and did a dance
You shook a little turd out of the bottom of your pants"
Awesome.
I know that line! Mark and I actually had a "listening party" last night and listened to a few of the Moldy Peaches songs that he downloaded from the one album they made together in 2001 when they all lived in NYC. I think they're all in separate bands now, but let's just face it; they're a bit weird! We now have a new favorite song from them, though, which is just about as cool as the one from the Juno soundtrack (but maybe better and with more staying power)? I'm looking forward to the mix!
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