Monday, December 26, 2016

An Anne Feeney update

"Tribute album to help pay radical singer Anne Feeney's cancer bills" -- Cory Doctorow

"War on the Workers a Tribute to Anne Feeney"

Anne Feeney site

Friday, December 23, 2016

John Weingart's 20 Great Albums from 2016

Date: Sat, 17 Dec 2016
From: John Weingart <Radio@VERYSELDOM.COM>
Subject: 20 Great Albums from 2016

Like all such lists, this one undoubtedly, unfairly misses many other
wonderful albums that I didn’t hear at all or, perhaps forgot about or
didn't fully appreciate...

Chris Coole: The Tumbling River (Northern)

Cricket Tell The Weather: Tell The Story Right

De Gregori Canta Bob Dylan: Caravan (Sony)

Greensky Bluegrass: Shouted, Written & Quoted

Erwin Helfer: Erwin Helfer Way (The Sirens)

Terri Hendrix: The Slaughterhouse Sessions

Ivor Johns: Good Days a Comin (Right Side Up)

Blind Willie Johnson: Songs of... God Don't Ever Change (Alligator)

Daniel Koulack: Frailing To Succeed (Little Giant)

Jim Kweskin & Geoff Muldaur: Penny's Farm (Kingswood)

Evie Ladin Band: Jump The Fire

The Lark And The Loon: Songbirds and Fog

John Lilly: Thinking About The Weather (JavaLina)

David Maloney: My Father’s Shoulders (Pelican)

Mandolin Orange: Grandfaller (Yep Roc)

Dave Murphy: American Landscape

The Piedmont Melody Makers: Wonderful World Outside

The Stray Birds: Magic Fire (Yep Roc)

Eli West: The Both (HearthPR)

Kenny White: Long List of Priors

John Weingart
Music You Can't Hear On The Radio
103.3 FM and WPRB.com
Sundays, 7:00-10:00 pm
www.veryseldom.com 

One of Garnet Rogers' 'quiet' songs

Garnet Rogers can snarl with the best -- "Stormfront" and "Sleeping Buffalo" -- and also purr with the finest:

Who could have known
The sky could turn so calm after a storm?
Who could have known
That the evening breeze might feel this sweet and warm?
And the sky above the trees where the moon has hung its horns
Has faded to the palest shades of grey
The starlings splash and chatter in the fragrant fields of corn
How green it’s grown
Who could have known?

Who could have known
That I might finally shed some pain and start to live
Who could have known
I might finally find it in me to forgive
All that lay between us through those bitter hurtful years
Has melted like dark ice beneath the sun
And the bitterness and the tears and the pain to which I clung
Have finally gone
Who could have known?

Who could have known
That I might look and finally tell gold from dross
Who could have known
I could accept now what was gained and what was lost
All that seemed to matter grows lesser by the day
And a shadow has been lifted from my heart

Like the clean rain falling on me this blessed peaceful day
Like diamonds shone
Who could have known?"

Sunday, December 18, 2016

Susan Werner and her provocative lyrics, plus more


(Why Is Your) Heaven So Small

excuse me sir, what did you say?

when you shout so loud, it's hard to tell
you say that i must change my ways
for i am surely bound to hell

well i know you'd damn me if you could

but my friend, that's simply not your call
if god is great and god is good
why is your heaven so small

you say you know you say you've read

that holy bible up on your shelf
do you recall when jesus said
judge not, lest ye be judged yourself

for i know you'd damn me if you could

but my friend, that's simply not your call
if god is great, and god is good
why is your heaven so small

with your fists that shake, and your eyes that burn

what makes you do these things you do?
i would not be surprised to learn
someone somewhere excluded you

but my friend, imagine it if you would

a love much mightier than us all
o if god is great and god is good
why is your heaven so small

+++++++

  

Our Father (The New Revised)

Thy kingdom come to every nation
Thy will be done in everything we do
Lord, lead us not into temptation
And deliver us
from those who think they're You

Lord send us forth to be of service
To build the schools and dig the wells
And deliver us from the creepy preachers
With their narrow minds and very wide lapels

Lord give us strength to bring compassion
to every corner of the world
And please allow for women in the Catholic priesthood
And remind the pope that he coulda been a girl

Lord deliver us from politicians
Who drop Your name in every speech
As if they're Your best friend from high school
As if they practice what they preach

+++++++



Sunday Morning

there is someplace that 'm supposed to be
keeps returning
the feeling keeps coming over me
just like music
or like sunlight on a distant memory
sunday morning
sunday morning

my mother choosing what to wear
my father combs his jet black hair
we are their little prizes
in our mary janes and clip on ties
we hurry down the aisle
the neighbors smile because we're
late again

on sunday morning
there is someplace ...

daddy prays because the money's tight
mama prays she'll raise her children right
and my brother prays he'll change
so he won't feel so very strangely out of tune

and i went back the other day
closed my eyes and tried to pray
but a voice spoke loud and clear
"you ask too many questions, dear"
and i said, "you ask too few"
that's why i still don't know quite what to do

on sunday mornings ...


+++++++

However, she is no one-trick musical pony as the following will amply demonstrate:



St. Mary's Of Regret

I'm wearing that dress, I've pulled on those gloves
I put on my veil, we once were in love
We once had it all the entire sky
We threw it away and I wonder why

Passion's always half impossibility

But lovers that we lose we never dare forget
We visit them in mourning in December and in May
In the graveyard of St. Mary's of Regret

The end of the street, the wrought-iron gate

The cobblestone path, the names and the date
The anxious hello, the everyday laugh
The intimate tears, the epitaph

Passion's always half impossibility

But lovers that we lose we never dare forget
We visit them in mourning in December and in May
In the graveyard of St. Mary's of Regret

You're married by now

She's kind I suppose
Does she know what she has?
Does she tell you she knows?

Do you put on the suit?

Do you try on the tie?
Do you walk through that gate?
Do you wonder why?

Passion's always half impossibility

But lovers that we lose we never dare forget
Maybe someday there I'll see you in December or in May
In the graveyard of St. Mary's of Regret
In the graveyard of St. Mary's of Regret

We never dare forget

+++++++



"May I Suggest"

May I suggest
May I suggest to you
May I suggest this is the best part of your life
May I suggest
This time is blessed for you
This time is blessed and shining almost blinding bright
Just turn your head
And you'll begin to see
The thousand reasons that were just beyond your sight
The reasons why
Why I suggest to you
Why I suggest this is the best part of your life

There is a world
That's been addressed to you
Addressed to you, intended only for your eyes
A secret world
Like a treasure chest to you
Of private scenes and brilliant dreams that mesmerise
A lover's trusting smile
A tiny baby's hands
The million stars that fill the turning sky at night
Oh I suggest
Oh I suggest to you
Oh I suggest this is the best part of your life

There is a hope
That's been expressed in you
The hope of seven generations, maybe more
And this is the faith
That they invest in you
It's that you'll do one better than was done before
Inside you know
Inside you understand
Inside you know what's yours to finally set right
And I suggest
And I suggest to you
And I suggest this is the best part of your life

This is a song
Comes from the west to you
Comes from the west, comes from the slowly setting sun
With a request
With a request of you
To see how very short the endless days will run
And when they're gone
And when the dark descends
Oh we'd give anything for one more hour of light

And I suggest this is the best part of your life

+++++++

The lyrics for this gem cannot be found on-line:

Always enjoyed these two songs

"Circles" -- Harvey Reed



I throw a stone into the water and I watch the circles as they grow
While holidays and birthdays leave footprints like soldiers in the snow
The flowers and the icicles are spokes in a wheel that has no end
And the passing of the seasons makes me think about circles again

The sun and the moon, circles tracing circles in the sky
While old people and children look at each other in the mirror in the eye
Like the turning of a waterwheel like the voice of a long lost friend
When I think about my old friends I think about circles again

Round and round and round in circles we spin
Over and over we end up right where we begin
Those things that never change, those things that are never the same
Though it looks like a straight road I'm traveling in circles again

These round coins in my hand there's so much I do that they ask me
What goes around will come around; there are wheels turning night & day right past me 
I had a dream long ago I was hiding but a clock always found me
And now everywhere I look I see circles all around me

Another of Reid's more enjoyable songs:



It's a breeze on a summer evening
It's a firefly on a July night
It's an old Chevy truck parked in the drive
It's a big oak tree, it's a love that's alive

It's a song stuck in your mind
It's a child learning nursery rhymes
It's a fiddler's foot on the kitchen floor
It's an old love song you never heard before

CHORUS
It's a freight train whistle in the night
Singing like a mournful dove
It's a boy leaving town without looking back
It's a banjo playing it's a girl I love

It's your momma calling on the phone
It's a dog run away come home
In the bottom of the ninth it's a big home run
It's the love we have, it's the morning sun

Sunday, December 11, 2016

John Rumsey's Top 10 2016

John Rumsey, <mojorum@ORO.NET>
KVMR Nevada City California
"Four Strong Winds"
Alternate Wednesdays 10am to noon

Top 10 2016

1.  Paul Sachs "Love is Love" (Paul  Sachs)

2.  Jed Marum "Callia’s Waltz" (Boston Road Records)

3.  C. Daniel Boling "Thee Houses" (Berkalin Records)

4.  Jubilant Bridge "A Bell A Bird A Star" (Jubilant Bridge)

5. Barwick & Siegfried "Long Time Gone" (FGM Records)

6. Runa "Live" (Runa)

7. Brother Sun "Weights & Wings" (Brother Sun)

8. The Stray Birds "Magic Fire" (Yeproc)

9.  Joan Baez "73rd Birthday" (Razor & Tie)

10. Reid Jamieson "Dear Leonard" (Reid Jamieson)

Lori McKenna - "The Bird and the Rifle"

Lori McKenna's latest release, "The Bird and the Rifle" has received excellent reviews:

 "Lori McKenna's 'The Bird & the Rifle' Is Vintage Storytelling"

"Lori McKenna’s Gentle Rue Shimmers on ‘The Bird & the Rifle’"

"Lori McKenna, 'The Bird & The Rifle'"

One song in particular has received a great deal of play, probably due to Tim McGraw recording it a while back. That is "Humble and Kind" -



You know there's a lot that goes by the front door
Don't forget the keys under the mat
Childhood stars shine, always stay humble and kind
Go to church 'cause your momma says to
Visit grandpa every chance that you can
It won't be a waste of time
Always stay humble and kind

Hold the door say please say thank you
Don't steal, don't cheat, and don't lie
I know you got mountains to climb but
Always stay humble and kind
When the dreams you're dreamin' come to you
When the work you put in is realized
Let yourself feel the pride but
Always stay humble and kind

Don't expect a free ride from no one
Don't hold a grudge or a chip and here's why
Bitterness keeps you from flying
Always stay humble and kind
Know the difference between sleeping with someone
And sleeping with someone you love
I love you ain't no pick up line so
Always stay humble and kind

Hold the door say please say thank you
Don't steal, don't cheat, and don't lie
I know you got moutains to climb but
Always stay humble and kind
When those dreams you're dreamin' come to you
When the work you put in is realized
Let yourself feel the pride but
Always stay humble and kind

When it's hot, eat a root beer, a popsicle
Shut off the AC and roll the windows down
Let that summer sun shine
Always stay humble and kind
Don't take for granted the love this life gives you
When you get where you're goin'
Don't forget turn back around
Help the next one in line
Always stay humble and kind

This one is good but "That's How You Know" remains her most effecting song (for me):



When you take the train to midtown
To have coffee by yourself
Pull the pictures from the drawer
Put them back up on the shelf

When you hear the sound of church bells
And they don't make you wanna cry
And you're not getting drunk
Just so you can hide

That's how you know
That's how you know

When you open up the curtains
Start answering the phone
Stop driving around for hours
'Cause you hate going home

When you can talk about it
Even say their name
When you start thinking
You'll survive even though
You'll never be the same

That's how you know
That's how you know
That's how you know
That's how you know

There's no such thing
As a long goodbye
When you wish it would've lasted
Your whole life

When you don't need a cigarette
Or a pill to help you sleep
When you don't end every night
On the hard wood on your knees

When you wake up one morning
Surprised to see the world exists
And your eyes ain't full of tears
And your heart ain't full of bitterness

That's how you know
That's how you know
That's how you know
That's how you know

When you're thankful
That you ever knew a love this strong
When you finally find
The courage to write this song

That's how you know
That's how you know
That's how you know
You're moving on

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Grammy nominations

The Grammy nominations have been annouced:

Best American Roots Performance

Ain't No Man
The Avett Brothers
Track from: True Sadness Label: American Recordings/Republic Records

Mother's Children Have A Hard Time
Blind Boys Of Alabama
Track from: God Don't Never Change: The Songs Of Blind Willie Johnson Label: Alligator Records

Factory Girl
Rhiannon Giddens
Track from: Factory Girl Label: Nonesuch Records Inc.

House Of Mercy
Sarah Jarosz
Track from: Undercurrent Label: Sugar Hill Records

Wreck You
Lori McKenna
Label: CN Records

++++++++++

Best American Roots Song

Alabama At Night
Robbie Fulks, songwriter (Robbie Fulks)
Track from: Upland Stories Label: Bloodshot Records; Publisher(s): Lorne Rall Music

City Lights
Jack White, songwriter (Jack White)
Track from: Jack White Acoustic Recordings 1998 - 2016 Label: Columbia/Third Man Records; Publisher(s): Peppermint Stripe Music

Gulfstream
Eric Adcock & Roddie Romero, songwriters (Roddie Romero And The Hub City All-Stars)
Track from: Gulfstream Label: Octavia Records; Publisher(s): Grand Bayou Music/Roddie Romero Music

Kid Sister
Vince Gill, songwriter (The Time Jumpers)
Track from: Kid Sister Label: Rounder Records; Publisher(s): Vinny Mae Music admin. by Songs of Kobalt Music Publishing

Wreck You
Lori McKenna & Felix McTeigue, songwriters (Lori McKenna)
Label: CN Records; Publisher(s): Melanie Howard Music, Inc./Rusty Muffler Songs admin. by Kobalt Songs Music Publishing

++++++++++

Best Americana Album

True Sadness
The Avett Brothers
Label: American Recordings/Republic Records

This Is Where I Live
William Bell
Label: Stax

The Cedar Creek Sessions
Kris Kristofferson
Label: KK Records, Llc

The Bird & The Rifle
Lori McKenna
Label: CN Records

Kid Sister
The Time Jumpers
Label: Rounder Records

++++++++++

Best Bluegrass Album

Original Traditional
Blue Highway
Label: Rounder Records

Burden Bearer
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

The Hazel And Alice Sessions
Laurie Lewis & The Right Hands
Label: Spruce And Maple Music

North By South
Claire Lynch
Label: Compass Records

Coming Home
O'Connor Band With Mark O'Connor
Label: Rounder Records

++++++++++

Best Folk Album

Silver Skies Blue
Judy Collins & Ari Hest
Label: Wildflower Records/Cleopatra Record

Upland Stories
Robbie Fulks
Label: Bloodshot Records

Factory Girl
Rhiannon Giddens
Label: Nonesuch Records Inc.

Weighted Mind
Sierra Hull
Label: Rounder Records

Undercurrent
Sarah Jarosz
Label: Sugar Hill Records

++++++++++