In the Last Month or So

"You can't count the miles until you feel them"-Townes Van Vandt Be Here to Love Me (DVD)

It seems like I've been going somewhere the entire last month. It's fun, but as the wise songwriter quoted above said, once you start feeling the miles, you feel urged to reflect on them and ultimately realize just how much you've gone through and how many roads you've traveled.

Of course Townes was a troubled addict to alcohol and at one time heroin and he lived his life on the road never really knowing where home was. I'm just a young'n trying to catch as much cool music as I can, while I still love it.

The weekend of June 24-26 was FestivALL in Charleston, for which I wrote the blog on Charleston's The Gazz. As you'll see in some of the photos, I took in some early evening Blues, Brews & BBQ at the University of Charleston campus. Nothing fancy, we were drinking Coors Light. Nathan and the Zydeco Cha-Chas did everything Buckwheat Zydeco seems to do except obviously for less money.

Alvin "Youngblood" Hart was quite depressing because his set exhausted me so much that I couldn't enjoy the said Zydeco. An event like this needs more enthusiastic dancing.

On Sunday's Mountain Stage Bruce Hornsby came and did a "Special Solo Extended Set" for Mountain Stage. The highlights were a ragin' hot set by the Dirty Dozen Brass Band (Dirty Doz for hip-sakes) and the finger-fireworks of Tommy Emmanuel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZNJf-h7F8s&search=tommy emmanuel over the rainbow) who did four songs and got three standing ovations.

Crys of "You can't do that. . ." rang out from astounded guitarists in the audience. Now go watch that video. It's for real.

So I had some great conversations last night with some guys from Yonder Mountain String Band, a well-received jam-grass band. They were all swell individuals and hometown hero Tim O'Brien produced one of their records. YMSB and Tim were both guest on Mountain Stage this weekend, part of our historic commemeration of the RCA-Victor recording sessions of 1927 in Bristol TN/VA.

The Birthplace of Country Music Alliance was our host ( www.birthplaceofcountrymusic.org)

We taped two shows for tv and radio and I had the chance to witness some of the most magical and humbling things I guess I'll ever see. Mainly, Odetta. She is a legend in the world of folk music, Dylan and Janis both drew inspiration from her, and she has the most radiant prescence.

She must be 75 years old and we wheel her in for her soundcheck and she says cheerfully "Hello everybody!" And she's the first person I've ever heard tell our guitar player Mike Lipton she wanted a solo that was more "angry."

She did the "Rich Man Blues," a song about soldiers coming home and not finding work, being ostricized, and, as she mentioned, this song always sees a resurgence during war and post-war times. "It's about time for it to go out of style," she told us. Indeed Miss Odetta.

My boss introduced Miss Odetta to Dr. Ralph Stanley, one of the only true living-legends of the bluegrass world remaining. I could go on forever about this show: We had Hee-Haw star and Queen of the Banjo Roni Stoneman on, and another living legend of folk music, Ramblin' Jack Elliott who's rightfully been declared "The Son of Woody and the father of Dylan." Apparently it was Odetta's mother who dubbed Jack with the dubious "Ramblin'" moniker.
The two shared stories and a bottle of white wine, and we had cameras there to capture it. I'm grateful to be a part of something so historic.

Bristol was incredibly welcoming and appreciative of our efforts and it felt good for everyone involved I'd say.Even for Ollabelle, who after much flight difficulty, rented a car (with navigation system) and drove from Charlotte to meet their drummer, who'd arrived the day before, in Bristol and immediately rush to the stage and play. And they killed it.

Their new record is great, www.ollabelle.net

There was no time for worry or detail, they just tuned up and sang out and the crowd, who knew what they'd been through, was sympathetic but astounded. I hope this band is around for a long time.

It's worth mentioning that over July 4th I moved into my own place in Nitro, WV. The walls are still pretty bare because I've been out of town every weekend since, and I just like enjoying my privacy when I get home from work during the week. The weekend after I moved in we took Mountain Stage to the Greenbrier (www.greenbrier.com) and it gave me a chance to introduce Tricia to my folks (who fell in love with her as quickly as I did).

The very next weekend Tricia and I went to Pittsburgh to see two of our favorite bands (they were her favorites before mine, admittingly) Slim Cessna's Auto Club and Th'Legendary Shack*Shakers at 31st St. Pub in the strip distric of Pittsburgh. Great show and a great venue (http://www.31stpub.com/newstuff/home.html).

We got to chat a bit with the Shack Shakers' drummer, Brett, who has some great art work on line at www.heartsandhelicopters.com. Also Munly of Slim Cessna's Auto Club signed my CD of Munly & the Lee Lewis Harlots with the following. . ."Never, I mean ever will you see me at the Empty Glass."

Hilarious, even though I still think the should play the Empty Glass.

Next weekend is Floyd Fest 5. This will be my third year at the festival, and it's gotten better in one way or another each year. I'm glad Ani isn't coming back. Los Lobos will definately draw a different crowd. And there won't be any fresh faced "Sunday Only" ticket holders lumbering through the gates wading through the mud that the true loyal festival-goers had endured all weekend. So instead of ramble on about what's going to happen, or what happened, I'm leaving a list of recommended things to listen to. . .in no specific order.

http://www.myspace.com/thepharo ("Immigrant Women,"??? Just listen)

www.outoforbit.org (one of my favorite bands has parted ways with their singer)
www.ollabelle.net
www.floydfest.com
http://www.rhino.com/store/ProductDetail.lasso?Number=73346 (In-depth look at where punk really started)
www.cockadoodledont.com Home of the Shack Shakers-if you're lookin' for a little modern-day rockabilly.
www.myspace.com/reaganboggs (the next Martina McBride?)

Current Listening:
The Avett Brothers- Four Thieves Gone (Still)
The Very Best of Buck Owens Vol. 2
Martina McBride- Timeless
Tom Petty- Highway Companion (New Petty = New Life Perspective)
Rolling Stones-Some Girls ("Beast of Burden," "Miss You," "Respectable")
Red Hot Chili Peppers- "Wet Sand" & "Tell Me Baby" (Two of my favorite tracks off the new Chili Peppers double album)
Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins- Rabbit Fur Coat (I just now got this. Some pretty introspective, contemplative soul gospel that's not just about Jesus.