Off the Avenue

*photo by Jon Strymish

This one is coming to you from my new home in (south) Austin, Texas.

I sit here with a cup of some of the best coffee I have ever tasted and I am still surprised to be here and not in Camberville/Sombridge making plans to have margaritas with you tonight.

I have been out a few times in Austin, and so far I have found that the food and cocktails alone have justified the move. (!)

Now because you are dying to know... the live music here is fine. There are a lot of places to find it, and in just a tiny fraction of time, I have seen a handful of genius players at work.

I think anyone who treasures the musicians along Mass Ave like I do will agree that it is not just that it is a talented songwriter/player community. It is this along with who they are; people that if I were the weight of a sack of (red bliss) potatoes, I would run and jump into their arms when I see them. I would climb them like the oak trees that they are. (inspired by the famous words of Jess Tardy, "I'd like to climb him like a tree.") They are friends to love.

You never move to a new city and expect that you will find a replacement for everything you left behind. My psychotic loyalty is your assurance. I cannot imagine sinking down into the refuge of a place so beloved to me as the Lizard Lounge is, and seeing anything like a Dinty Child sitting among the SA setup, tuning up one of the dozen instruments they use up there.

In case I am unclear, I am happy and loving my new city. I am satisfied with having found a true love in the Cambridge music scene. There is not an equivalent to be discovered Anywhere on the planet, at least not for me. I did not move to Austin specifically to hear more/better/different music, I came here to discover more of me.

You who know me know this: my passion for what I love does not run out or stop functioning. I am in it. I will admit, and appear silly (because I am) and tell you that when I think about having cutoff my musical access to Tim Gearan and Duke Levine, I instantly plummet into stubborn, silent weeping. Rose P is not going to sit here and play her new song for me either, is she. So in the meantime, I just text Sean Staples. Because he oversees it all for me, and will undoubtedly text me back.

I need a warm-up for this Oaxaca blend coffee, and to get back to living in this fabulous new town I am in.

::n.a.s::

p.s.
Advice on making this happen is welcome:

"I was just thinking that you need live feed cameras at all the rooms in Sombridge so you can monitor all the musical happenings from your command central position. I picture a bank of monitors and speakers, with a continuous supply of margaritas. Of course you would want to pay the cover to these needy musicians, so you would have direct deposit to their accounts. We at least HAVE to get you a live feed of the Anais show next week (and Sub Rosa, and Kev, and Hayride, and, and, and.)" ~Dinty Child, Facebook

Oh Hear Us

I have posted yet another video from the 2007 film project benefit at Club Passim.

This video is an incredibly gorgeous version of Jennifer Kimball's, Eternal Father. Rose Polenzani lends her sweet voice to the mix, while Duke Levine stands heroically by, on electric.

The song is from Jennifer's last record, Oh Hear Us, released in 2006. The first verse comes from the hymn Eternal Father and the second from Our God Our Help in Ages Past.

I can't say how much I miss Jennifer and her music here around the Avenue. She and the family are due to return from Ireland in June. Until then we have a few YouTube videos to tide us over.

Eternal father strong to save
Whose arm does bind the restless wave
Who biddst the mighty ocean deep
Its own apointed limits keep
Oh hear us when we cry to thee
For those in peril on the sea

Time, like an ever-rolling stream
Bears all its children soon away
To fly forgotten as a dream
Dies at the opening of the day
Oh, hear us when we cry to thee
For those in peril here with me

Oh let the darkness shine as light
Make endless nightime to be bright
When fear and sorrows all have passed
Then face to face well meet at last
Be still when tears are wiped from men
Whose eyes shall never weep again,
weep again, weep again.

"If I Could Hit You"

Hello, November.

I am sitting at the kitchen table at our house in Somerville... black coffee beside me, on the stereo Peter Mulvey is singing "Dynamite Bill." What a likable day.

Last night I uploaded two more videos to the film project YouTube channel. This one is Rose Polenzani singing her song, "If I Could Hit You," with Session Americana. The song is on the record she made with Session, WHEN THE RIVER MEETS THE SEA.

Also! Announcing Critical Hang 2010. Together with my friends Yukon and Colleen, I am planning the next big party. Brian Schwartz calls me a "community organizer," I like that.

And I love this:

"You Awaken My Highest Hopes"

It is a rainy day in Boston, what better thing to do than watch these mesmerizing artists sing their sweet songs? This one is Rose Polenzani's "Highest Hopes."

The song was inspired by a trip Rose took to NYC with our fabulous friend Cindy Howes. Above is a photo of Cindy awakening our Highest Hopes at one of our famous family dinners last year.

Next is Meg Hutchinson performing her song "I'd Like To Know." I think this is going to tear you up, but in a good way... one of Meg's many talents.

Enjoy!

"In Between the River and the Sea"

Continuing my sincere celebration of the performers who took part in the film benefit we held at Club Passim just about two years, I give you this new video from our YouTube channel.

The evening of October 25th, 2007, was a spectacular concert of the stars of my live-music-loving eyes/ears. They just so happen to be incredibly generous as well, they all agreed to play this event without hesitation or compensation.

I have love letters and songs to sing for you all. (though the eventual completion of the project will have to be the only forthcoming evidence.)

In praise of you, my friends.

Like a Miracle

My incredibly gifted friend, Rose Polenzani, wrote a song in appreciation of her local music community. The song is "Like a Miracle," and the community she sings about is the very same one that you will see me praise everywhere this world will let me.

Rose has a rare ability to lock-in continuous moments of stupendous vocal glory and then pair it with moving, unanticipated lyrics. As a songwriter, these things alone make her great. She has an emotional voice- I mean, every word she sings seems like she is experiencing it that second, living it, telling you fresh out of the pit of her stomach. When artists that I love are doing what they love, and simply for that reason, I think it is easy to hear, see and feel that.

When I first had the idea to begin making a film that would celebrate Cambridge/Somerville musicians, it was watching Rose's performances that sealed the deal for me. I knew I wanted to document the pure joy and gratitude that I felt at being a witness to such an extraordinary group of artists. Rose is most often a common link among the musicians who make this area as notably brilliant as any other in the country to see live music.

The video I am putting up today is another from the benefit we had for our project. It is Rose performing Like a Miracle with several other local songwriters who are celebrated everywhere. Featuring Duke Levine, Dinty Child, Tim Gearan, Jennifer Kimball, Anne Heaton and Brian Webb.

If you are interested in the project I hope you will visit www.myspace.com/project952
or email me at folkfilmproject at gmail.com.

"Someone sings a song, it's a miracle."

Music = Life

Some time a ago, I caught something- it was bad. Always a music lover, it was inevitable that my condition would either sustain itself or grow uncontrollably. My natural obsessive nature made it very likely that this mostly healthy sickness would be at the center of my current existence.

That is where I find myself today, at 31- In absolute love with local music, out five nights a week, at least, purely devoted. When not out seeing Tim Gearan at Toad, Atwood's, or the Burren... if not at the Lizard Lounge for Session Americana... I am privileged to be seeing my favorite musicians and musician friends play at Club Passim and other venues around town.

Of all the sprouting incarnations in town, I must say my favorite is definitely Sub Rosa, a "secret society of friends and strangers" at the Lizard Lounge. Hosted by the deliciously talented Rose Polenzani, Sub Rosa is an ever-changing musical performance of originals and covers by Rose's community of songwriters and players, with one guest stranger chosen to play a couple of songs and be interviewed by Rose. One of the things I love most about Sub Rosa, is that there is very little, if any, rehearsing. When there is magic, and there often is, it is real and it is unforgettable. (here is a video from youtube, for your enjoyment.)

Speaking of the songwriter community and of musician friends, last night I went to see Chris O'Brien at Atwood's. Chris is currently at work on his second record, after much success surrounding his first full release, Lighthouse, in 2007. Chris was a Finalist on "A Prairie Home Companion" for the People In Their Twenties Talent Contest, and was the 2007 New Artist of the Year on WUMB.

I was really loving Chris last night, though he is already a high-energy performer, he came into himself even more with the cast of players who accompanied him on stage. If you have ever seen Josh Ritter with his band, you will probably remember the mustached bass player, Zack Hickman. This man has unstoppable momentum, and a sharp, elegant style made all his own- and well, he is ridiculously awesome at everything he does. Also playing, newer to Josh's band, guitarist, Austin Nevins. Austin is among my most beloved local players and he's someone you just want to be around for his humor and for his very essence. These two have a dynamic onstage chemistry that makes for an always impressive sound. Charlie Rose played banjo, and Mike Piehl was on drums- you could not go wrong. It was a blast.