Wednesday, April 30, 2014

corner view: small things

Corner View is a weekly appointment - each Wednesday - created by Jane (Spain) and curated by Francesca (Italy), where bloggers from all corners of the world share their view on a pre-arranged theme.  The theme this week is "small things", and comes from Kristin (Germany).

Great things are done by a series of small things brought together
~ Vincent Van Gogh~







Tuesday, April 29, 2014

tunes on tuesday 4-29: temples, parker millsap, t.rex, declan o'rourke, the pretenders

Tunes on Tuesday is a fun project. Each week I'll try to bring you some fun videos or audio files, each one focusing on a song, group or collaboration that just might pique your interest! If you have someone for possible spotlight then shoot me a private e-mail and we'll give it a listen. Hope you enjoy Tunes on Tuesday! 


NOTE: All videos may be expanded to full screen. Hit play then click on the icon at lower right.




NEWER RELEASE
Ok, so I can immediately think of about 5 classic bands that this group has adopted sounds from, but it's kind of refreshing to hear new music that has a nostalgic feel. Temples is a Britpop group that just released their debut album Sun Structures. The group has played a couple of larger UK music festivals and have just announced some dates in the US and Australia. Find out more, see a few of their psychedelic videos and hear a couple more songs at their website. Here is a fun one: Shelter Song.



NEWER ARTIST / REGIONAL / UP & COMER
Parker Millsap is 21 years old, from a tiny town in Oklahoma, raised in a Pentecostal home, and has the voice of a man with many years and some hard living under his belt. Howlin' Wolf meets Tom Waits meets Lowell George, Delta Blues mixes with folk, country and a knack for red-dirt story-telling. That's Parker Millsap. His debut album, released just a little over a month ago, is self titled and this song is Quite Contrary. I think you're going to like it. Expect more to come from Parker Millsap!



CLASSIC

Though T. Rex was only in existence for 10 years, their impact was substantial in the music world. The band morphed as key personnel changed and the group developed their own unique sound, but they found themselves with the release of the very popular Electric Warrior and Slider albums. They appeared frequently on the popular British TV show, Top of the Pops, and after one particular performance where Marc Bolan appeared with glitter under his eyes and sparkling in the studio lights, the Glam Rock genre was born. Fast friends with such musical greats as David Bowie, Elton John and Ringo Starr, and with well earned recognition for his album releases and live performances, Marc Bolan was living his rock-n-roll dream. Tragically, he was killed in a drunk driving accident at the young age of 29 so we’ll never know of the great music that was to come, but the few albums we are left with are gems. Here is Jeepster from the Electric Warrior LP.  



'ROUND THE WORLD MUSIC
Declan O'Rourke is a singer/songwriter from Ireland who has been slowly gathering much deserved attention in the US. This beautiful song is Time Machine from his US debut album, Mag Pai Zai, the third album he's recorded. He joined in a series of Transatlantic Sessions with Allison Krause and Jerry Douglas and though he's mainly touring in Ireland we can still enjoy his posted music and videos. See and hear more about Declan at www.declanorourke.com.




INTERESTING COLLABORATION OR COVER
When I first heard The Pretenders back in the late 70's, I was immediately taken with Chrissie Hynde's voice. Male lead singers far outnumbered female rockers at that time and when Chrissie burst onto the scene she was not trying to be an imitator. She was confident, self-assured, pounding out songs with a crystal clear, emotional style that was all her own. The Pretenders have seen a lot of personnel changes throughout the years, two of them really important losses due to drug overdoses, but Chrissie has remained the constant driving force throughout. In 1972, Neil Young recorded Needle and the Damage Done, a song he wrote in reaction to seeing the effect that heroin use was having on his fellow artists, particularly the decline he was seeing in his Crazy Horse guitarist, Danny Whitten. It's a beautiful, acoustic hymn that still sends chills to listeners today. Add Chrissie Hynde's take on this classic and the result is awesome.





Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use." PROMO ONLY, Nonprofit, No Copyright Infringement Intended, All Copyrights Belongs to the Owner.

Monday, April 28, 2014

Friday, April 25, 2014

simple joys, simple pleasures

Often times, the very best moments in life are absolutely free and those moments can just make your day. Simple pleasures, like taking the time to watch a sunset, to get swept away in a moment of complete freedom, joy, imagination, to find yourself engrossed in a creative project, to get lost in a chapter of an amazing book, to watch a child lost in play, to take that first bite of an outrageous chocolate cake, or maybe the perfect song comes on the radio at the perfect moment. These moments are usually completely random. You can watch for them or you create the opportunity for the moment to happen. These moments happen all the time. You just have to be aware. So pay attention and be open to the opportunities for small joys.  They’re all around you!  

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

visit to reynolda house and american masters exhibit

In 1875, RJ Reynolds established his tobacco company in Winston, NC. He married Katherine Smith in 1905 and while RJ was busy building his empire, Katherine was building the family's fabulous Reynolda House. She was very in tuned with the natural surrounding but also wanted to develop a healthy atmosphere for the employees and caretakers of the estate so subsequently created a whole village. Farms, a church, a school, informal and formal gardens, a lake and hospital were built and families thrived there. In 1934 RJ and Katherine's daughter, Mary Reynolds Babcock, took over the estate and village, continuing the vision of her mother but also vigorously collecting fabulous American art pieces.



the gorgeous greenhouse continues to provide beautiful plantings for the estate and also for sale to the public
 


In 1967, Mary and her husband formally established the home as a non-profit entity and it officially became the Reynolda House Museum of American Art. They donated a very substantial amount of acreage to Wake Forest University, who took over the museum operations in 2002. Much of the quaint village remains and houses small shops and restaurants. The preserved house and furnishings as well as the estate grounds, gardens and village are all open for visitors to stroll through.
Reynolda house not only has amassed a large collection of amazing and valuable art pieces, but a wing was built onto the house for use as exhibition space for traveling collections. We purposefully visited this week so we could enjoy a showing from the Brooklyn Museum of Art: American Masters: 1910-1960, from O'Keefe to Rockwell. It was a fabulous show and below are some of the pieces that were on display for us to enjoy.







Tuesday, April 22, 2014

tunes on tuesday 4-22: trischka, barn birds, monkees, rodrigo y gabriela, fotheringay

Tunes on Tuesday is a fun project. Each week I'll try to bring you some fun videos or audio files, each one focusing on a song, group or collaboration that just might pique your interest! If you have someone for possible spotlight then shoot me a private e-mail and we'll give it a listen. Hope you enjoy Tunes on Tuesday! 


NOTE: All videos may be expanded to full screen. Hit play then click on the icon at lower right.




NEWER RELEASE
The banjo legend, Tony Trischka just released his 17th album, this one titled Great Big World. Widely regarded as one of the best and earliest innovators of banjo stylings, this bluegrass artist started his musical journey in Syracuse, New York. He was inspired to pick up the banjo when he first heard the Kingston Trio and has been playing and performing steadily now for over 45 years. Tony has performed and recorded with an endless list of great musicians, has been recorded for movie soundtracks and is a regular featured radio guest on musical programs including Mountain Stage and Prairie Home Companion. He's also known as one of the best banjo teachers around!


NEWER ARTIST / REGIONAL / UP & COMER
The Barn Birds is a duo with an awesome vocal blending. Jonathan Byrd is a native of Chapel Hill/Carrboro, North Carolina where he tried the rock band thing for a while then gave it up for a more successful acoustic run. He has been writing songs and recording for 10 years and proudly says that each album is recorded within a day's time, just 6-10 hours! He met Chris Kohesh, who has been with the popular Northwestern region group, Misty River for 14 years, at a song writing workshop in 2007. The two sang and toured together for a number of years around the Northwest and Midwest regions and then recorded an album in 2011. Jonathan still frequently tours NC as a solo artist.  This song is Close Enough to Touch from their self-titled cd, released in 2013.


CLASSIC
The Monkees TV show only aired from 1966-1968 and the record releases ended in 1971, but their fans love them still.  Mike Nesmith was the only Monkee to be involved in the music from the beginning of their 5 year stint but eventually all four earned the right to take over the music that was released under the Monkee name. Remarkably, in 1967 Monkee albums outsold both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones! Here is What Am I Doing Hanging 'Round taken from one of their TV episodes.






WORLD
Rodrigo y Gabriela - The Russian Messenger from their newly released album 9 Dead Alive  Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero met and began playing music together as teens in Mexico City, Mexico. Feeling like they were being held back in their native country they moved to Dublin, Ireland and played on the streets and everywhere else they could, becoming increasingly popular there. Eventually they moved to the US, settled on the West Coast and made their musical debut here in 2006. They've recorded 8 albums and collaborated on the movie soundtracks of Puss in Boots (Shrek sequel) and Pirates of the Carribean (On Stranger Tides).




INTERESTING COLLABORATION OR COVER
Fotheringay was formed in 1970 by the fabulous Sandy Denny after her departure from Fairport Convention. They did a great version of Bob Dylan's Too Much of Nothing on their self-titled album, the only studio album that they recorded together. Also in the short-lived band were Trevor Lucas of Fairport Convention and Gerry Conway, who is best known as backup for Cat Stevens and Jethro Tull, and is a current member of Fairport. Sandy sadly passed away in 1978 and holds the honor of being the only singer to guest with Led Zeppelin (The Battle of Evermore).



Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use." PROMO ONLY, Nonprofit, No Copyright Infringement Intended, All Copyrights Belongs to the Owner.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

corner view: something to celebrate

Corner View is a weekly appointment - each Wednesday - created by Jane (Spain) and curated by Francesca (Italy), where bloggers from all corners of the world share their view on a pre-arranged theme.  The theme this week is "something to celebrate", and comes from Ibabe (Basque Country).

We have so many reasons to get together and celebrate!  It can be to enjoy a common heritage or musical interest...

...to celebrate a common hobby or to relive a happy time in our lives with fellow revelers.
 
We love to celebrate our love for our animals...
 
 ...our love for our community...
 ...and we enjoy celebrating our differences...together.
 

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

tunes on tuesday 4-15: the war on drugs, mandolin orange, the kinks, shooglenifty, devil in a woodpile

Tunes on Tuesday is a fun project. Each week I'll try to bring you five videos or audio files, each one focusing on a song, group or collaboration that just might pique your interest! If you have someone for possible spotlight then shoot me a private e-mail and we'll give it a listen. Hope you enjoy Tunes on Tuesday! 


NOTE: All videos may be expanded to full screen. Hit play then click on the icon at lower right.



NEWER RELEASE 

The War on Drugs, Lost in a Dream, from their album of the same name, released in March of this year. An indie-rock band from Philly, their music seems to have a heavy Dylan/Springsteen influence though loaded with effects and dream-like ambience.  This is War on Drugs' 3rd album release.






NEWER ARTIST / REGIONAL / UP & COMER

Another fun group to come out of Chapel Hill, NC is Mandolin Orange. A sweet mix of bluegrass, gospel, folk, pop and whatever else inspires, this Americana duo is quickly growing in popularity and traveling to play for audiences farther afield, always with great reviews. Here they perform Turtle Dove and the Crow off their 3rd album, which was just recently released. To find out where they'll be next, check out their website at www.mandolinorange.com.



CLASSIC

A Well Respected Man was released on 45 rpm in the US in 1965. Written by Ray Davies for his band The Kinks, it was a reaction to the band's perception of the upper-class guests at the luxury hotel where they were staying and the song became a sort of an anthem for the class frustrations going on in England at that time. It reached #13 on the US charts. The Kinks (original 4 members) were inducted into the US Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2005 and also into the UK Music Hall of Fame in that same year.  






WORLD

Shooglenifty is a six member band from Edinburgh, Scotland that played regularly at a local pub and now busily tours internationally. They describe their music as  "hypno-folkadelic ambitent traditional", and if you sit and listen to a selection of their songs you'll see why. There are traces of international music throughout but always with a Scottish backbone.  This really high-energy performance of Tammienorrie is infectious!







INTERESTING COLLABORATION OR COVER 






Devil in a Woodpile created a really upbeat, fun version of Led Zepplin's Bron-Y-Aur Stomp. Though this Chicago based group disbanded several years ago, they produced 3 albums of mainly jazz, blues and ragtime cover songs reimagined in their own funky style.




Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use." PROMO ONLY, Nonprofit, No Copyright Infringement Intended, All Copyrights Belongs to the Owner.

 

Friday, April 11, 2014

play!

Do you want to make the very best use of your time this weekend? Then play! I'm not talking about planning something complicated or involved, something that needs a lot of preparation or that is expensive. I mean just play! Find a pretty spot outdoors, bring a friend, bring along your camera and just hang out. See what comes of allowing yourself complete downtime. Let your imagination soar! As kids we played all the time and without even giving it a second thought. As adults we get so caught up in grown-up chores and responsibilities that we forget how great it feels to just let go and let loose. You don't need a reason, you don't need a purpose. You're going to be surprised at the ideas that come your way, the inspiration that results and just how completely recharged you are at the end of your own personal playdate. So do it: unplug, have fun, hack around, let go...play!

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

corner view: rejuvenation

Corner View is a weekly appointment - each Wednesday - created by Jane (Spain) and curated by Francesca (Italy), where bloggers from all corners of the world share their view on a pre-arranged theme.  The theme this week is  "rejuvenation", and comes from Bonnie.

"When spring knocks at your door, regardless of the time of year or season of our lives, run, do not walk to that door, throw it open with wild abandon, and say, "Yes! Yes, come in!"
~Jeffrey R Anderson

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

tunes on tuesday 4-8: the head and the heart, big ron hunter, the hollies, yann tiersen, johnny cash

Tunes on Tuesday is a fun project. Each week I'll try to bring you five videos or audio files, each one focusing on a song, group or collaboration that just might pique your interest! If you have someone for possible spotlight then shoot me a private e-mail and we'll give it a listen. Hope you enjoy Tunes on Tuesday! 


NOTE: All videos may be expanded to full screen. Hit play then click on the icon at lower right.


NEWER RELEASE


The Head and the Heart is a group from Seattle and here is Shake from their second album, Let’s Be Still which was released in the end of 2013.  According to band member Josiah Johnson,  the story behind the name of the band is that "your head is telling you to be stable and find a good job, you know in your heart that this [the band] is what you're supposed to do even if it's crazy." 





NEWER ARTIST / REGIONAL / UP & COMER

Big Ron Hunter is the son of an NC sharecropper who taught the young Ron how to play the guitar. Like many musicians, Ron developed his sound all while raising a family and working a day job. Big Ron is one of the fabulous Music Maker Relief artists, a group that works to support elderly, often empoverished American Roots musicians and to preserve their sound before it disappears. My band and I (Graymatter) had the fantastic opportunity to open for Big Ron Hunter last summer at a club in Hillsborough and we thoroughly enjoyed playing for him as his sat, clapping and singing along at a front row table. Here is Big Ron performing his song, Goin' For Myself.


CLASSIC

Recorded at Abbey Road studios and released in 1967, On a Carousel was the second single that came to us from The Hollies. The group was formed by elementary school pals, Alan Clarke and Graham Nash who began playing together in the 1950's. They came up with the name for their band just before beginning a gig in honor of one of their idols, Buddy Holly. On a Carousel hit #4 in the singles charts in the UK and #11 in the US.








WORLD MUSIC

Yann Tiersen is a French singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist who is probably best known in this country as the composer of the soundtrack for the movie Amélie, which was actually a collection of songs pulled from his first four albums and just one of several movie soundtracks to his credit. Yann has released 8 studio albums, 3 live albums and several EP and shorter length recordings. He also does a lot of collaborating and guesting with other artists on their own albums. Here is a live video/recording of Yann and his band performing Le Banquet.



INTERESTING COLLABORATION OR COVER

One of the last recordings we have from Johnny Cash is a Nine Inch Nails song, written by Trent Reznor, entitled Hurt. This video, which won Best Video of The Year at the Grammys and the CMA's, features images of Cash's life and appearances by his wife, June Carter Cash. Even if you're not a fan, the performance is so emotional that it will give you goosebumps and probably make you a little teary too. Johnny was definitely expanding his musical vision when he released this single with the B-side Personal Jesus, a Depeche Mode cover.



Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use." PROMO ONLY, Nonprofit, No Copyright Infringement Intended, All Copyrights Belongs to the Owner.

Friday, April 4, 2014

(not so) great expectations

It's a strange human phenomenon. We often overlook, or take for granted, the people that we are closest to. I've heard different explanations for this but, in my mind, reasoning it away doesn't make it any better or make it ok. It's also pretty common, fair or not, that our expectations of people closest to us are a lot higher than the expectations we have for other friends or common acquaintances. Shouldn't the exact opposite be true? Shouldn't we be showing extra kindness, patience and a bit more understanding to those closest to us?

We really can't change other people, no matter how much we may want to mold them into someone we think they should be or to change their behaviors. We can, however, change how we think about them, how we look at them and their actions. We can change our own behavior and pay better attention to how we treat our loved ones. At some point they will no longer be in our lives and what a shame it will be when they're gone and we are left with regrets about events we missed, about things we wish we'd done differently or about words left unsaid.


Wednesday, April 2, 2014

corner view: inspiration

Corner View is a weekly appointment - each Wednesday - created by Jane (Spain) and curated by Francesca (Italy), where bloggers from all corners of the world share their view on a pre-arranged theme.  The theme this week is  "inspiration", and comes from  Ã– (France).

There are a lot of artists, musicians, writers, photographers and other creatives that inspire me. I was introduced to the life and works of Georgia O'Keefe when I was a student at ASU and I've been a fan ever since. One of her paintings is displayed at the NC Museum of Art and I get to enjoy it a couple of times each year. Now there's a traveling exhibit just an hour from me... I can't wait to see it!

 
 
 
 
It occurs to me that from time to time I must subconsciously be recalling the spirit of Georgia when I'm pointing my camera lens.
 



Top four images are the works of Georgia O'Keefe:  1) Autumn Leaves, Lake George, 1924 2) A White Camelia, 1938 3) Series 1, no. 4, 1918 4) Single Calla Lily (Red), 1928. Bottom four photos are mine.