So this morning I did some grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s. I started the trip listening to the Perpetual Optimism latest release from jazz drummer Herlin Riley.
But after getting my coffee I decided to listen to some Americana on my way instead of jazz. The reason is that I can listen to lyrics of folk songs better when I’m in the car! I
decided that on the way there I would listen to Acres of Elbow Room the new album from John Wort Hannam and then on the way back I’d listen to Voices by Tom Rush. Tom Rush’s Voices was released in April of 2018.
I first discovered the music of John Wort Hannam when I started this blog back in 2010.. First, I started by listening to his second album Dynamite and ‘Dozers which was released in 2004. The songs on that album were impressive, so I quickly sought out Pocket Full of Holes. Then Came 2009’s Queen’s Hotel. You can read my posts about those albums here and here.
About John Wort Hannam
In 2001 John Wort Hannam quit his teaching job and spent 10 months depleting his savings while sat at his kitchen table, wearing a lucky hat, writing his first ten songs. Those songs would become his first recording Pocket Full Of Holes, released in 200
Seventeen years later, the Alberta musician is releasing his seventh full-length recording Acres Of Elbow Room and has a few feathers in that lucky hat for his first six offerings. Feathers that include a JUNO nomination, a Canadian Folk Music Award for Best Album of the Year, a CBC Galaxie Rising Star Award, a Kerrville Texas New Folk win, and numerous Western Canadian Music Award and Canadian Folk Music Award nominations
Over the last few years,John has had both good and bad come into his life. The good included: becoming a Dad, turning 50 and moving to the “big City” of Lethbridge. While the bad included a long, deep bout of depression, and episodes of losing his singing voice. But John has weathered all his storms and new days are shining brighter. I think that Acres of Elbow Room is his best album since those three albums I wrote about earlier
About Acres of Elbow Room
I love the opening track “Acres of Elbow Room” in it John laments that while he loves the big city of Lethbridge there are times when he needs to get back out to open spaces.Can’t most of us relate to that!
He also writes about ” The Quiet Life” and how he’ll be fine living in that “Quiet Life” As a quiet life person, I can relate to this song! He also wrote a song for his young son….and several other great songs!
The bottom line is that Acres of Elbow Room is a really, really, good album. So Check It Out!And you may think you need acres of elbow room, if after listening to the album, you end up in a small Trader Joe’s store!
Links for the Further Exploration of the Music of John Wort Hannam
So for the last couple of weeks I’ve had Sean Chambers second album Humble Spirits on the mp3 player and have enjoyed it. Sean is a Florida bluesman in the mold of Stevie Ray Vaughan, i.e. blues with a rock edge. Humble Spirits, was produced by Bud Snyder (The Allman Brothers Band and Gov’t Mule), and featured featured such special guests as Bernard Allison, Frankie and Dan Toler (The Allman Brothers), Bobby T. Torello (Johnny Winter) and Greg Allman band alumnus Bruce Waibel.
Sean has been ranked in the Top 50 blues rock guitarists by Britain’s “Guitarist Magazine” and he can really play! I feel that his guitar playing carries his ok vocals on the album!
Anyway there are a lot of decent songs on the album and it’s certainly worth several listens and will probably stay on the player for a while!
Sean Chambers Release Ten Til Midnight
Today I listened to his current release Ten Til Midnight. I was only able to listen to a few of the tracks but what I heard sounded pretty good. If it cools off tomorrow the album will probably be playing when I run!
Here’s what it says on Sean’s website about the album:
On Ten ‘Til Midnight co-producer Tim Blair wanted to go for a live sound similar to their incendiary concert shows; so most of the tracks were recorded with few overdubs. They feature Chambers on guitar and vocals, and his regular touring band: Tim Blair on bass and Paul Broderick on drums. Special guests includes Ben Crider on Hammond B-3 organ, Jack Henriquez on piano, Gary Keith on harmonica, and Robin Bouie and Clarence L. Stevenson on backing vocals.
Here’s what Blogcritics says about Ten ‘Til Midnight:
Ten Til Midnight is a high-energy, pedal-to-the-metal, blues rock album that will leave you plastered against your seatback. Remember that speaker ad a few years back showing the guy sitting in a chair in front of his speakers, his hair blowing back? Yeah! That’s it, that’s the one. And that’s this CD, too. Ten cuts, 41 minutes of rockin’ blues.
So if you like Stevie Ray, Corey Stevens and other blues rock guitarists check out Sean!
Here’s “In the Winter Time” from Ten ‘Til Midnight
.So when I listened to “St. Vincent De Paul.” the first track on Ed Romanoff‘s self-titled debut album for the second time on my four mile run tonight, it reminded me of Mary Gauthier‘s album The Foundling. Wait you listened to the song twice! I thought this album must be very short! But, no the run was really long! The ten track album clocks in at about 40 minutes, at which point, I was still a little way from my finish and was struggling along at about 11 minute per mile pace
Now back to the music! There’s a reason that the song reminded me about Gauthier’s album. Well, that’s because it appeared on Mary Gauthier’s album The Foundling. Ed wrote the song after he accompanied Mary to the orphanage where Mary had been left on the day she was born! After the trip, they became good friends, subsequently, Ed at Mary’s request joined her on the road as a sideman, writing partner, and later in taking a DNA test. Mary wanted to learn more about her biological past, but Ed got the shock! In taking the test, Ed found the father he grew up with was not his biological father. “Sometimes you write a song and sometimes it writes you back,” he says.
About Ed Romanoff
Now this a great collection of well-crafted songs about life, the good and the bad. It’s not really a pick me up album. However, I think, the album was a good pick for today’s run. What did I say the other night? ” misery loves company” Well, I needed the company tonight because my left leg was giving me misery! But because I was going so slow, I was able to focus on the music rather than the pain in my leg and there was alot to pay attention to:
There’s a song about unrequited love “Breakfast for one on the 5th of July” , one about the disappearance of a man on a winter’s day “Lady Luck”, and the random shooting of a man and woman necking in a car, “Yellow Rose”. He made it, she didn’t. See not much to put you in a good mood there, is there.
“I Must Have Done Something Right” is the one somewhat humorous song on the album. In the song a guy recalls all the terrible things he’s done to his best friend. However, somehow the friend remains loyal through it all. All included: that night I slept with your sister/You know I meant to keep that a secret”
The album has been on all the charts. It’s currently No 12 on the Euro-Americana Chart and No 22 on the FAR Chart. In addition, Ed was the 1st place winner in the lyrics category of the 2011 USA Songwriting Competition. “Breakfast for One on the 5th of July” was the winning song.
Crit Harmon produced the album. Harmon has worked with: Martin Sexton, Lori McKenna, and Mary Gauthier. Josh Ritter, Tift Merritt, Meg Hutchinson, and Mary Gauthier provide harmony vocals on the album!
So once again the run was tough, really the pits, but the music was great! Here’s a performance of the award winning “Breakfast for One on the 5th of July”
Yesterday I posted that two albums have stood out in my music rotation over the last few weeks. The first one was Hard Times the latest release from jazz saxophonist Vincent Herring. The second one is Spirit to the Sea from the Colorado Indie-Americana string band Trout Steak Revival.
I first encountered the music of Trout Steak Revival back in 2012 , when I listened to their albumFlight. After listening to that album I knew that this was a band that was going places. And they did!
About Trout Steak Revival
In 2014 they won the Telluride Bluegrass Festival Band Competition. They also won an Emmy Award for a soundtrack they contributed to a Rocky Mountain PBS web documentary. they have also collaborated with school children in mentoring programs in Denver and Steamboat Springs. Their music is featured on Bank of Colorado’s radio and
Trout Steak Revival’s music blends the sounds of folk, indie, bluegrass, and roots into their own style of Americana. The band members include: Casey Houlihan – Bass, Steve Foltz – Mandolin/Guitar, Will Koster – Dobro/Guitar, Bevin Foley- Fiddle and Travis McNamara – Banjo.
I love a band where the members are all masters of their respective instruments. That is certainly the case with the members of Trout Steak Revival! And while each picker is great there are two that make this album special for me and they are: Will Koster whose dobro sounds great throughout the album, and Bevin Foley’s fiddle which really makes some of the tracks soar!
Now many times when I listen to bluegrass albums I kinds cringe when I hear the vocals. There are some voices out there that are just too twangy for me. That is NOT the case with Trout Steak Revival, I love the vocals on Spirit to the Sea. On Spirit to the Sea, like their previous releases all five band members contribute unique lyrics, lead vocals and harmonies. And to my ears they all sound fantastic.
Bottom Line:
Spirit to the Sea is a 4.25 star out of 5 album for me. Five stars for the picking, four stars for the lyrics and four stars for the vocals and four stars for the overall upbeat feel of the album. Average them together and you get 4.25 stars. Ok so every time I start to pick out tracks that I like on an album, I usually find myself saying I like this one and this one and pretty soon it’s the whole album. So I ‘ll just say check it out!
Final Thoughts
I started this two-part post by writing about my eclectic taste in music. I said that I didn’t think there were many folks out there who like both bluegrass and jazz. So what connects the two genres of music for me. It’s like I wrote earlier listening to musicians who are masters of their respective instruments. In the case of Vincent Herring’s Hard Timesit’s listening to the musical artistry of Vincent Herring, Cyrus Chestnut and Russell Malone. Masters of the saxophone, piano and guitar respectively.
On Spirit to the Sea it’s listening to great mandolin and guitar from Steve Foltz , dobro from Will Koster, Bevin Foley’s fiddle and Travis McNamara’s banjo.
The big difference between the two genres for me is when I listen to them. I mainly listen to jazz while I’m reading and bluegrass when I’m in the car or when I’m up moving around and doing something. How is it with you???
Links for the Further Exploration of the Music of Trout Steak Revival
Tom Russell’s release Folk Hotel has been in my music rotation for a week or so now, and I like the album more and more each time I listen to it. There are few songwriters whose songs send me to Wikipedia to look up references the way Tom’s does. In fact, I was sent scurrying on the first track: “Up in the Old Hotel.”
The first reference I chased was Joseph Mitchell, whose ghost wanders the halls of Tom’s Folk Hotel. Here’s what I found:
Joseph Mitchell and Up in the Old Hotel
(July 27, 1908 – May 24, 1996) was an American writer best known for his work in The New Yorker. He wrote careful portraits of eccentrics and people on the fringes of society, especially in and around New York City. His book Up in the Old Hotel collects the best of his writing for The New Yorker. Mitchell’s last book was Joe Gould’s Secret (1964). From 1964 until his death in 1996, Mitchell went to work at his office daily, but never published anything significant again. Read More
Dylan Thomas and the Hotel Chelsea
The second reference in the song points to the death of poet Dylan Thomas and his infamous final days:
On 3 November 1953, Thomas spent the day drinking in New York. He returned to the Hotel Chelsea declaring, “I’ve had 18 straight whiskies. I think that’s the record!” Later that week, he fell gravely ill and was admitted to St. Vincent’s Hospital, where he died on 9 November 1953 of acute alcohol-related complications. Read More
One Song, Countless Stories
I love that about Tom Russell’s songs. One verse can send me looking up a writer I’d never heard of, while the next leads me to a poet, a painter, or some forgotten corner of American history. His songs aren’t just stories—they’re invitations to keep exploring.
I’ll have more to say about Folk Hotel in another post, but for now I’ll leave you with Tom performing “Up in the Old Hotel.”
More Tom Russell Stories
If you’d like to read more about one of my favorite songwriters, continue with:
Folk Monday: Old Friend Slaid Cleaves and Tom Russell – How Mesabi first entered my music rotation and led to plans for a special concert.
Tom Russell Live at Jammin’ Java – My memories of seeing Tom and Thad Beckman perform many of these songs live in an intimate setting.
Daily Roots will be a recurring feature of this site. It is a a way of revisiting music, books, and ideas that first took hold decades ago — not out of nostalgia, but because some things refuse to stay in the past. This felt like the right place to begin, because Phil Ochs wrote songs that keep rewriting themselves every time history circles back on itself.
This post was originally written in 2017 during the first Trump administration but it’s even more relevant here in 2026!
Phil Ochs and “Here’s to the State of Mississippi “
As I have watched the unfolding of the events surrounding the President over the last few weeks the similarities to Trump and Nixon get stronger every day. These similarities led me to the songs of Phil Ochs. Well at least to one song “Here’s to the State of Mississippi”
Way back in the mid-60s during the height of the Civil Rights struggle many people were aghast at the actions of the people of Mississippi. Folksinger Phil Ochs responded through song and wrote the classic “Here’s to the State of Mississippi”. In the song Ochs sang….
Here’s to the state of Mississippi, For underneath her borders, the devil draws no lines, If you drag her muddy river, nameless bodies you will find. whoa the fat trees of the forest have hid a thousand crimes, the calendar is lyin’ when it reads the present time. Oh here’s to the land you’ve torn out the heart of, Mississippi find yourself another country to be part of!….
Updating the Song “Here’s to the State of Richard Nixon”
Fast forwarding several years and Phil needed to update the song and change Mississippi to Richard Nixon. In updating the song he added a new versus just for Tricky Dick…..
And here’s to the government of Richard Nixon In the swamp of their bureaucracy They’re always bogging down And criminals are posing As advisors to the crown And they hope that no one sees the sights And no one hears the sounds And the speeches of the president Are the ravings of a clown
Complete lyrics Here. Here’s Phil performing the song……
Hmm, seem like any government we may know??? Yep! Old Tricky Dick and Donald are like twin sons of different mothers!!
And Now – Here’s to the State of Donald Trump
While I was searching YouTube for Phil’s version of the song I can across this updated version of the song. It includes verses for Steve Bannon and Jeff Sessions along with dear Donald! Enjoy!
And after 50 plus years the question remains “why do Republicans hate poor people?”
Philip David Ochs was an American songwriter, protest singer, and political activist. Ochs was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, and political commentary. He wrote about 200 songs in the 1960s and 1970s and released eight albums. Wikipedia
This post was originally posted in 2017 and has been updated in Nov 2025 with new stuff added!
The Run – 3.25 Mile Creek Loop
Today’s run was my fifth run in the month of February. That’s a good start on the year and on a pace to run on more days than a typical February. The soundtrack for the run was Tennessee Moon from Ray Cardwell.
I ran the same course today that I have run for the last two runs. It is a 3.25 mile loop that is mainly flat with a couple of small increases in elevation. Initially, I thought about running 4 miles today, but after running the first mile in the fastest time this year, I decided to shorten it to 3.25 miles. I shorten the run for two reasons. The first reason was so I wouldn’t be tired for the rest of the day! And the second because I needed to leave time to shower and eat lunch between the end of the run and babysitting granddaughter Zoe!
The run was my best runs of the year. My time was a little more than a minute faster than my time last week over the same course. I maintained a pace averaging a little under 11 minutes per mile over the first 2 plus miles. Overall, my pace for the entire run was 11:05 min/mile. The splits were 10:49 (1) 10:59 (2) 11:25 (3) and 11:17 (.25). I really slowed down over the third mile. One reason was to see if I could lower my heartbeat a little. The other was because I was going up one of those little rises in elevation! Overall it was a good run and left me feeling like I wanted to go out and do it again tomorrow! Ah, but my knees know better!
The Soundtrack – Tennessee Moon – Ray Cardwell
The soundtrack for the run was Tennessee Moon the 2017 release from singer, songwriter and bassist Ray Cardwell. When I first listened to this album the other night, I thought that it had a John Cowan, New Grass Revival vibe to it.
When I went to read about the album I discovered two reasons. The first was that New Grass Revival alum Pat Flynn produced the album and John Cowan provided tenor and harmony vocals on the album! Here’s a little about Ray from the Pinecastle Records website:
Ray honed his musical chops playing in The Cardwell family bluegrass band in the late 1970’s. In the ‘80s he spent time playing rock and reggae before moving to Nashville in the ‘90s to be a member of the bluegrass band, the New Tradition.
He returned to his home state of Missouri a few years later to raise a family while teaching vocal and instrumental ensembles. Along the way he has had experience with an eclectic mix of musical genres from bluegrass and Americana to musical theater and Motown. Now living in Nashville, TN Cardwell has returned to his musical roots while blending in his varied influences to create a style all his own.
Ray Cardwell wrote or co-wrote nine of the twelve tracks on the album. Ray says this about his music….
“I feel my music is based upon the traditional style of bluegrass and old timey music my parents raised me on, and the collection of musical experiences I’ve had in my journey through life. My songwriting is a direct reflection of new ideas balanced with the traditions of the past.
My Thoughts….
Favorite tracks include the title track “Tennessee Moon”, the opening track “His Will”, “Stop, Look and Listen” and “Sailin’ for Glory”. I must not have been struggling too badly throughout the run because I remember hearing most of the songs!
Now for me maybe the most important part of any bluegrass album is the picking and there are some good pickers on Tennessee Moon. First and foremost there;s my favorite dobro player Rob Ickes. Others include Andy Leftwich on fiddle and mandolin, Jesse McReynolds on mandolin and Scott Vestall on banjo. The producer Pat Flynn also provided some fine guitar and harmony vocals. Here’s the complete line-up…..
The Pickers and Singers
Ray Cardwell – bass, lead and harmony vocals Pat Flynn – guitar, harmony vocals Danny Roberts – mandolin Jesse McReynolds – mandolin (“Tennessee Moon”) Scott Vestal – banjo Rob Ickes – resonator guitar Andy Leftwich – fiddle, mandolin Vocals: John Cowan, Claire Lynch, Ronnie Bowman, Scott Russell, Eric Morris, Brad Reside
Links for the Further Exploration of the Music of Ray Cardwell
Here is a short playlist of favorite songs from Tennessee Moon.I will admit that I don’t usually like gospel but the two gospel tracks here work for me! I
Post Update
Over the last four to five years, I’ve written fewer posts than I would’ve liked — a trend I’m working to reverse! I’m also checking in on the artists and bands to see what they’ve been up to since I first wrote about them.
Since I wrote this post back in 2017, Ray Cardwell has continued to release strong, soulful bluegrass albums. His music has blended the traditional tones of the genre with a warm, rootsy vocal spirit that still carries that touch of gospel he’s always had.
Albums Since 2017:
Year
Album
2019
Stand On My Own
2020
Just a Little Rain
2025
Singing Tree
I was listening to Singing Tree tonight while editing this post — and it reminded me why Ray Cardwell stood out to me the first time I heard him. The songwriting is strong, the arrangements are warm and lively, and that soul-through-bluegrass voice remains the anchor.
This one may work its way into a Tangy Tuesday post… stay tuned.
Five New Albums to Add to My Music Library from Tunes Used CD Store
Yesterday in the post re-introducing Me, Myself, Music and Mysteries I wrote that previously I had found a lot of music at Tunes in Marlton, NJ.That action reminded me that I still had a $15.00 Gift Card to Tunes that my son Peter had given me about a year ago.
So…. after finishing the post and no Eagles game to watch I decided to make a trip to Tunes. I really haven’t been to Tunes much since my kids have grown and online music sources like Rhapsody and Spotify have come into existence. It’s really a lot easier to check out new music from the comfort of your own house.
The trip today though reconfirmed that I really enjoy scouring the bins looking for those special bargains on great music. Sometimes the bargains are albums from musicians you know. Other times you may find an album from someone you have never heard. However, because the price is so low you can take a chance on the album.
The albums that I found yesterday are all from musicians that I am familiar. Some of the albums I have even written about on this blog. Anyway, here are the five albums that I bought with my $15.00!!
The Five Albums
Two of the albums that I found at Tunes yesterday I have previously listened to and enjoyed. However, I listened to them on Spotify, and I don’t have the physical CD. So it’s great to have them…..They are
Hot Rize – When I’m Free
Released in 2014, When I’m Free was Hot Rize’s first studio album in 24 years.
When I started to listen to a lot of music and collecting CDs, thanks to the used CD bins at Tunes in Marlton, in the early 2000s, I found the music of Tim O’Brien, an amazing multi-instrumentalist and singer. I also discovered the music of guitarist Charles Sawtelle. It took a while before I stumbled upon a great bluegrass album So Long a Journey (2002) from the band Hot Rize. I discovered that both O’Brien and Sawtelle were members of the band, along with Pete Wernick, and Nick Forster.
Subsequently, I discovered that the album was a live album that had been recorded in 1996 and was a reunion album of the band, that had retired in 1990. In 1990, the members had parted ways and went on to have distinguished solo careers Conitnue Reading
The Lonely Heartstring Band – Deep Waters
From My Previous Post
Among the albums that were released this Friday was Deep Waters the debut release on Rounder Records from the Boston-based band The Lonely Heartstring Band. Ken Irwin, a founder of Rounder Records, said
“The Lonely Heartstring Band is not only one of the most exciting bands musically we’ve heard in a while, but they combine artistry with a great attitude and commitment that makes them irresistible. Plus, they’ve just made an amazing record”
After listening to the album yesterday and today, I totally agree Deep Waters is a great album and these 2015 IBMA Momentum Award winners can flat-out bring it. Great pickin’ and singin’! Four out the five members of the band met as students at the Berklee College of Music, which says volumes about their respective musical abilities in my eyes and ears. The band was founded in 2012 by Charles Clements (bass & vocals), George Clements (guitar & lead vocals), Gabe Hirshfeld (banjo), Patrick M’Gonigle (fiddle, vocals), and Matt Witler (mandolin). Since its founding the band has built a devoted following playing and headlining at major music festivals and historic venues from Western Canada to California, from Kentucky to New Hampshire. – Read More
The other three albums are all jazz albums.
Miles Davis – Birth of Cool
I wore out Miles’s Bitches Brew when it was in college. Since then I have listened to and enjoyed a lot of his other albums. However, Birth of Cool was not in my music library until now!
From: AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
So dubbed because these three sessions — two from early 1949, one from March 1950 — are where the sound known as cool jazz essentially formed, Birth of the Cool remains one of the defining, pivotal moments in jazz. This is where the elasticity of bop was married with skillful, big-band arrangements and a relaxed, subdued mood that made it all seem easy, even at its most intricate. After all, there’s a reason why this music was called cool; it has a hip, detached elegance, never getting too hot, even as the rhythms skip and jump. Indeed, the most remarkable thing about these sessions — arranged by Gil Evans and featuring such heavy-hitters as Kai Winding, Gerry Mulligan, Lee Konitz, and Max Roach — is that they sound intimate, as the nonet never pushes too hard, never sounds like the work of nine musicians.
Furthermore, the group keeps things short and concise (probably the result of the running time of singles, but the results are the same), which keeps the focus on the tones and tunes. The virtuosity led to relaxing, stylish mood music as the end result — the very thing that came to define West Coast or “cool” jazz — but this music is so inventive, it remains alluring even after its influence has been thoroughly absorbed into the mainstream Read More at AllMusic
Here is a past post about Lee Konitz who played on Birth of Cool
Bud Powell – The Best of Bud Powell – The Blue Note Years
This album contains fifteen tracks from the following albums recorded on the Blue Note label. The tracks were recorded and released between 1957 and 1958. The critic’s rating on all of the individual albums are either 4 or 4.5 stars out of five! So, I think that I am going to enjoy this collection!
1957–58: Bud Plays Bird (Roulette / Blue Note) 1958: Time Waits: The Amazing Bud Powell (Vol. 4) (Blue Note) 1958: The Scene Changes: The Amazing Bud Powell (Blue Note)
Powell’s band mates on the various tracks include:
Fats Navaro, trumpet, Sonny Rollins, tenor sax, Max Roach and Philly Joe Jones, drums!
Yes, I think that I will really like this CD!! Here is a link to short post I wrote about Bud on his birthday!
The Mahavishnu Orchestra with John McLaughin- The Inner Mounting Flame
Columbia released The Inner Mounting Flame in 1971. I know I listened to it way back when, but somehow it never made it into my music library. Thank you Tunes and Peter for taking care of tha
From the AllMusic Review by Richard S. Ginel This is the album that made John McLaughlin a semi-household name, a furious, high-energy, yet rigorously conceived meeting of virtuosos that, for all intents and purposes, defined the fusion of jazz and rock a year after Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew breakthrough. It also inadvertently led to the derogatory connotation of the word fusion, for it paved the way for an army of imitators, many of whose excesses and commercial panderings devalued the entire movement.
Though much was made of the influence of jazz-influenced improvisation in the Mahavishnu band, it is the rock element that predominates, stemming directly from the electronic innovations of Jimi Hendrix. The improvisations, particularly McLaughlin’s post-Hendrix machine-gun assaults on double-necked electric guitar and Jerry Goodman’s flights on electric violin, owe more to the freakouts that had been circulating in progressive rock circles than to jazz, based as they often are on ostinatos on one chord. Read More
The Inner Mounting Flame is one of the 1,000 recordings in the book,1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die. (Note: My son Andrew gave me this book fpr Father’s Day.. You think he was trying to tell me something?)Just joking! Anyway the next time I listen to the album I guess I’ll only have 999 to go! Of course I actually have less because I know I have herd many of the albums already!!
At the end of each article there is a box that lists various information about the album. The information listed includes: the genre of the album, its release date, along with key tracks and a catalog choice track.The final two fields are the Next Stop and After That. After The Inner Mounting Flame the next stop is King Crimson’s Larks’ Tongues in Aspic. After That –Tortoise’sTNT. I know I have heard the King Crimson album, but I don’t know Tortoise’s TNT. So I’m off to find it!
So overall, I think I got a pretty good haul for my $15.00. Actually, I have to confess that the total bill came to $17.08. Which is still almost equal to the price of one CD! So by for now I have some listening and ripping to do!!
Six String Stories – Joanna Connor – The Best Blues of 2016?
A couple of weeks ago, I spotted an album titled Six String Stories on the Roots Music Report Blues Chart. The artist was Joanna Connor. Since the title of the album was interesting and I had never heard of Ms. Connor, I went to Spotify and gave it a quick listen. Wow! It sounded great! But then my ADD kicked in and I was soon off listening to other albums and Six String Storieswas set aside.
Somehow at the end of last week the album caught my attention again and I went back to Spotify and listened to it again. Boy am I glad I did! Ms. Connor is one hell of a slide guitarist! She may even give my favorite slide guitarist Dave Hole a run for his money!
How Have I Missed Joanna Connor?
So why have I never heard of Ms. Connor? Well, it seems that her career started out way back in 1989 with the release of her debut album Believe It released on Blind Pig Records. Eight more albums followed over the next ten years. After the release of The Joanna Connor Bandin 2002, decided to take a break from recording ad touring to raise her daughter. She has continued to play live locally in her adopted home Chicago.
The reason I have never heard of Ms.Connor may be that she began he career during MY period of child rearing. In 1989 Sharon, Lois and Bram and Raffi spent more time on my turntable than blues! Additionally, she hasn’t released any albums during the time, when I rediscovered the blues, and started exploring new artists more fully. So now back to Six String Stories!
About Six String Stories
One of the things that I really liked about Six String Storieswas the variety in Joanna;s music.Joanna’s fiery slide blues licks are mixed in among some soul, gospel and funk! Of the ten tracks on the album Joanna co-wrote eight of them with Marion Lance Lewis, a multi-instrumentalist and mainstay of her live band.
In his review in Elmore magazine Jim Hynes writes….
….Connor sings like she wields her axe, fiercely with a “take no prisoners” approach. The opener, “It’s a Woman’s Way” and “By Your Side” feature her trademark slide. She takes the slow blues route on “We Stayed Together,” trading some verses with Lewis. She treats Jill Scott’s “Golden” with the right jazz-soul feel as it morphs into funk over her spoken part. The bayou-inspired “Swamp Swim” shows the improvisational side of her playing especially when offset by the guitar heavy “Halsted Street.” The centerpiece of the album is “Heaven” which brings in the gospel with horns and the Lewis Family Singers.. Connor says, “I wrote that as more of a political song with West African feel, but Lance gave it more of a gospel sound. His brothers are pastors and have churches so they brought that kind of feel to it.” The much covered “Sky is Crying’ sounds like a completely different tune here Read More
Bottom – Line
Six String Stories may be my favorite blues album of the year! It has everything I love in an album, Fantastic guitar playing coupled with well-written and sung songs. A couple of great covers are also thrown in the mix. .My favorite tracks so far are “It’s a Woman’s Way” and “By Your Side” and the two instrumentals “Swamp Swim” and “Halsted Street”. So Check it Out! And as per usual I have a lot of back-catalog music to explore!!
Links for the Further Exploration of the Music of Joanna Connor
Thoughts about 70s Music lead me to – Pearl Before Swine
I was thinking about music in the late 60s and early 70s this morning My thoughts quickly turned to one of my favorite bands, Pearls Before Swine and the album The Use of Ashes. During those years the underground music scene was exploding. Typically AM commercial radio stations played pop music that was singles oriented. Underground music was album oriented and the tracks played were usually much more complex and longer.
As the popularity of underground music grew several Philadelphia radio stations adopted the underground music format. Both WDAS and WMMR made the switch.To me the beauty of the format was the ability of the DJ to play just about anything HE wanted to play. WIBG’s DJ Hy Lit led the transition on WDAS and Dave Herman and his Marconi Experiment paved the way at WMMR.
This morning I read in the article on Underground Music at Wikipedia that Frank Zappa said this about the music….“mainstream comes to you, but you have to go to the underground.”
Anyway new bands seemed to appear every day. Bands came together then split and reformed new bands and it was great.
Pearl Before Swine – The Use of Ashes
Pearls Before Swine founder Tom Rapp
Pearls Before Swine was one of my favorite bands from that era. The band probably received more praise by critics, than commercial success. Again from Wikipedia……
Pearls Before Swine was an American psychedelic folk band formed by Tom Rapp in 1965 in Eau Gallie, now part of Melbourne, Florida. They released six albums between 1967 and 1971, before Rapp launched a solo career…..
My first and favorite Pearls Before Swine album was their 1970 release The Use of Ashes. From Wikipedia….
……The band signed for Reprise Records in 1969, although by this time the other original members had left and the band name now referred to Rapp and whichever musicians he was recording or touring with, one of whom, Jim Fairs, was previously a member of The Cryan’ Shames. The five albums on Reprise were generally more conventional in sound, but contained a unique blend of humanistic and mystical songs, with some whimsical touches. Some were recorded in New York and others – particularly The Use of Ashes and City of Gold – in Nashville with top session musicians including Charlie McCoy, Kenny Buttrey, and other members of Area Code 615.
Wow, one of the things that I had forgotten about the album was the session musicians that played on it. Charlie, Kenny and Area Code 615 were favorites!
One thing that I think many would argue with is that Tom Rapp did not have a commercial music voice. It was quirky and lispish, but for me the musical composition and lyrics of their music more than made up for Rapp’s voice.
Favorite Songs from The Use of Ashes
My two favorite tracks on The Use of Ashes have always been, “The Jeweler” and “Rocket Man” Each of the songs create images for me, that are not soon forgotten. Hey they’ve stayed with me for over 50 years!! Through the years every time I heard Elton John’s “Rocket Man” I would think about Pearl Before Swine.
\ From Wikipedia…..
“Rocket Man ….written the day Neil Armstrong landed on the moon – was credited by Bernie Taupin with inspiring his hit song with Elton John of the same title. Quote : “We didn’t steal that one from Bowie, we stole it from another guy, called Tom Rapp…”.
Listening to The Use of Ashesthis morningreminded how much I like tPearls Before Swine! So Check Them Out!
P.S. My son Andrew has been a big fan of progressive rock bands. Several years ago he told me I should give the genre a listen. I did and discovered that I did like the genre. I also discussed that I had been listening to Prog from many years. Many of the bands that I listened to like Jethro Tull and King Crimson were the founders of progressive rock. Surprisingly Pearls Before Swine also falls into the Progressive Rock genre. Their music is considered Prog Folk!
