Category Archives: Articles

Driving That Train, High On Rogaine … Dead Ahead

Dead_50th_twitter_profile_image_(500x500)

If you haven’t already heard, a reasonable facsimile of the Grateful Dead are reuniting “one last time” for three shows in Chicago’s Soldier Field over the Fourth of July weekend, to celebrate their 50th anniversary. It’s a dream come true for thousands and thousands of Deadheads. Tickets sold out in a heartbeat when they went on sale in February. When I perused StubHub today, you could still at least get in the door each day, if you wanted an obstructed view seat for a mere $500 starting point, with a general admission floor ticket selling for $13,385. The big enchilada that was listed a week ago, and is now gone: a three-day pass, for $114,000. Not a typo.

One last time? Ha. Just this past week, the band added two more dates in California. In rock and roll lingo, words like “final,” “last,” “farewell,” and “goodbye” are mere approximations of reality. They tend to bop ’til they drop. And, while the number of dearly departed band members far exceeds those that are still alive – with the addition of “Dead for a Day” Trey Anastasio and “Almost Dead” Bruce Hornsby to fill in the missing pieces – it’s likely to be an excellent celebration of music and culture. Despite aging like the rest of us baby boomers, surviving members Phil Lesh (age 74), Bob Weir (67), Mickey Hart (71), and Bill Kreutzmann (68) are far from geriatric and will definitely kick ass (albeit a saggy one).

I first saw the Dead on April 10, 1971, at East Hall, on the campus of Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA. I remember a few things from that night – I drank a lot of apple cider, which was passed around at the foot of the stage in gallon jugs. I also remember seeing Jerry Garcia play pedal steel guitar for the New Riders of the Purple Sage, who opened that concert, and Pigpen on organ, harp, and vocals before he left us less than two years later. It was a magical night. I screamed, hollered, and danced for hours. It launched my ten-year fixation on the band.

That fixation ended one night at the Greek Theater in Berkeley, as I watched the sun do a slow-mo fade into the San Francisco Bay. I decided to bail out while they were at the peak; the scene had eclipsed the music.

Through both the miracle of technology and a large group of fans and fanatics committed to saving every single note that the Dead has ever played, with the touch of a mouse I can not only scan the set list and read the recollections from my fellow concert attendees, but I can also stream the show in the comfort of my home. It’s up on the Internet Archive website, along with thousands of other shows they’ve played over the years. That site is hardly exclusive to the Dead, although they are probably one of the bands most extensively represented.

We used to just call that bootlegging. Today, it’s an opportunity to catalog and digitally preserve another piece of fading American history.

Since most of us won’t be refinancing our homes to buy a ticket and travel to Chicago or California, there will likely be opportunities to stream, download, and/or view those concerts, too. And it looks like there will be a documentary of the event released in 2016.

The ‘Core Four’ members of the band sent out this press release:

Millions of stories have been told about the Grateful Dead over the years. With our 50th Anniversary coming up, we thought it might just be time to tell one ourselves and Amir Bar-Lev is the perfect guy to help us do it. Needless to say, we are humbled to be collaborating with Martin Scorsese. From The Last Waltz to George Harrison: Living In The Material World, from Bob Dylan to the Rolling Stones, he has made some of the greatest music documentaries ever with some of our favorite artists and we are honored to have him involved. The 50th will be another monumental milestone to celebrate with our fans and we cannot wait to share this film with them.

If you’re filled with excitement and can’t wait, I found a treat for y’all on the ‘Tube. And, should you be one of the lucky ones this summer to catch a show, don’t forget the sunscreen, watch what you drink, and beware of the orange Metamucil. Fare thee well.

This was originally published by No Depression, as an Easy Ed’s Broadside column.

On Indiana, Wilco and Jim Nabors

Most of the time, I just write about the music. It’s why you come here, so I’m aware I need to stay on topic. A few times over the years I’ve veered off course; most notably when a college student attending the University of Virginia went missing from a Metallica concert a few years back. As a parent, I found myself deeply affected by the anguish that Morgan Harrington’s family was going through, so I wrote an article about her, posted it here, and hoped for the best. The story was all over the news and social media. But I thought any additional exposure might be helpful – who knows, maybe there was a reader from Virginia who might have seen something or have information to share. I know, it was naive of me. But I had to say something.

Indiana. It’s been hard to miss the news about this state. They passed a law a few weeks ago. At first glance, it was not unlike a federal law passed by both the Democrats and Republicans back in the early 1990s called the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. A bunch of other states have passed a version, too. (And like most laws, it’s complex and I’m not going to spend my time nor yours in explaining it here. Go forth and Google.)

What you need to know is that the Indiana legislature decided to add a little extra kick to their version of the RFRA, resulting in what would have amounted to permissible discrimination against people on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. And, while the talking heads on cable news might make it sound like it’s about the right to not sell pizza that might be eaten at a gay wedding, or the right to refuse to bake a cake on which you have to write “Congratulations Carol and Anna” in frosting, because it goes against your religious beliefs, that’s the smoke and mirrors around the topic. The topic itself is singular: intolerance.

By now you probably know what happened. Titans of technology united with barons of business to stand up against discrimination. Cities and states quickly passed laws of their own condemning Indiana. There was talk that the NCAA might pull the Final Four tournament out of Indianapolis. And Wilco cancelled an upcoming show and issued this statement on their Facebook page:

“We are canceling our May 7 show at the Murat in Indianapolis. The ‘Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act’ feels like thinly disguised legal discrimination to us. Hope to get back to the Hoosier State someday soon, when this odious measure is repealed.”

There were a few other musicians who raised their voices as well. Can you guess who? Miley Cyrus was probably one of the most vocal on her Twitter account, and she publicly supported Wilco’s decision. REM’s Michael Stipe posted a video saying he loved the people of Indiana but the governor could go “F” himself. And in a letter to the Indianapolis Star, Indiana native John Mellencamp wrote:

“I am not questioning the sincerity of those who believe they have acted in the interests of religious freedom, but I am resolutely stating my opposition to this misnamed and ill-conceived law. It is discriminatory, hurtful, and a stain on Indiana’s national reputation.”

Mellencamp distanced himself from Wilco’s decision by adding that he would continue with planned shows in Indiana because he doesn’t want to let the government come between him and his fans from his native state. Meanwhile, a group of Indiana-based indie record labels (including Sufjan Stevens’ Asthmatic Kitty Records and members of the Secretly Group) signed a press release aligning themselves with civil liberties and the LGBT community but urging the artists not to cancel their scheduled live performances in order to achieve the abolition of the law:

“To musicians with events scheduled in Indiana – please follow through and perform. While canceling shows is one way to protest, a greater statement can be made by coming here and using your art to influence the policy debate that is occurring locally. You can insist that the venue you play publicly states that they will not discriminate under any circumstances. If the venue won’t do that, rebook your show with another venue that will. Your performance can be a rally. We need your support locally.”

So then, what about Wilco? Did they jump the gun or help further publicize the damage this law could have done? Seeing as, in a matter of days, the law was re-worked, and the governor of Arkansas chose not to sign a similar law there, it seems the voice of that band, along with all the others, was loud enough to be heard.

On April 3, Wilco took to Facebook again:

We consider the changes to Indiana’s RFRA a good first step toward creating the sort of welcoming environment we encourage everywhere, so we’re reinstating our May 7 show at The Murat, which we canceled earlier this week. To quote an Indiana University statement from yesterday, ‘religious liberty and equal protection under the law are both cornerstones of our democracy and they should not be in conflict with each other.’ Well said, IU.

While a small battle may have been won, victory for human rights is too far to view. Look no further than the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and contrast it with what’s been happening in Ferguson, MO, 51 years later: laws alone will not change people, their beliefs, or their actions. While public opinion has tilted in favor of supporting gay marriage and equality, and with the US Supreme Court expected to rule on those rights later this year, there will still remain a large group of people in America who will use whatever power they can to sway both the political and cultural opinion.

Of all that I have read or heard this past week, it was an op-ed piece in the Washington Post from the most unlikely person imaginable that I have found truly hopeful. Change comes incrementally, and here’s an example. This is what Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former Republican governor of California, wrote to his party:

“As an American, I’m incredibly concerned about what happened in Indiana this week and the threat of similar laws being passed in other states. As a Republican, I’m furious.

I know plenty of Republicans who are sensible and driven to solve problems for America. They believe in Reagan’s vision of a big tent where everyone is welcome. This message isn’t for them. It is for Republicans who choose the politics of division over policies that improve the lives of all of us. It is for Republicans who have decided to neglect the next generation of voters. It is for Republicans who are fighting for laws that fly in the face of equality and freedom.”

Should you have made it this far, it’s time for the music.

Back in the 1960s and ’70s, an actor from Alabama by the name of Jim Nabors portrayed the character Gomer Pyle, first on the Andy Griffith Show and then his own hit show. In addition to being a television star, he also had a deep baritone voice and released a number of albums, many that were full of spiritual songs. On January 15, 2013, one month after same-sex marriage became legal in Washington State, Nabors married his partner of 38 years, Stan Cadwallader, in Seattle.

Nabors is also well known for singing “Back Home Again in Indiana” prior to the start of the Indianapolis 500, held annually over the Memorial Day weekend. Except for a few absences due to health or other conflicts, he sang the unofficial Indiana anthem every year from 1972 until his final appearance there in 2014. Listen to the cheers as he’s announced. Watch the crowd give him a standing ovation at the end. Indiana is a state full of good people, in spite of the political and religious intolerance we witnessed that propelled them onto the front page.

It’s nice to know that Wilco will be there, too, so their voices and music can soar through the fear and hate.

This was originally published by No Depression, as an Easy Ed’s Broadside column.

The Alan Lomax Video Collection

Here are a collection of videos featuring Alan Lomax, one of the great American field collectors of folk music in the 20th century. He was a folklorist, ethnomusicologist, archivist, writer, scholar, political activist, oral historian, and film-maker. You can find his complete biography and more information about his work here. There are five films made from footage that Lomax shot between 1978 and 1985 for the PBS American Patchwork series, three of which are included here. To view the other two titles, and for more information on the series, visit the FolkStreams website.

Appalachian Journey

The Land Where the Blues Began

Jazz Parades:Feet Don’t Fail Me Now

Alan Lomax, with Phil Summerlin and Buell Cobb, discusses the emotional, historical, and musicological dimensions of Sacred Harp. Lomax sees shape-note singing as characteristically American, places it in a global multi-melodic choral context, and predicts its increasing popularity. Shot at the Holly Springs Sacred Harp Convention, Holly Springs, Georgia, June 6, 1982. For more information about the American Patchwork filmwork, Alan Lomax, and his collections, visit http://culturalequity.org.

For more information about the American Patchwork series, Alan Lomax, and his collections, visit http://culturalequity.org.

Chris Strachwitz and Arhoolie Records … This Ain’t No Mouse Music!

The last night of SXSW found me longing for the opportunity of discovery. Toss the official schedule, walk off the beaten path, and let the smell of Texas barbecue and the sound of new music guide me to euphoria. Problem with that was I was about two thousand miles away from Austin, the only path I could find was along the tracks of the Harlem Line of Metro North, and it was too cold and too early in the season for even the birds to sing their sweet songs. After a day on my feet and with no live music in the neighborhood, I opted for my default audio-visual excursion into the wilds of on-demand cable and Netflix streaming.

Options seemed slim at first, as I’ve caught up on most of my guilty pleasures. The HBO show Vice has been my latest vice, but there’s only so much international death and despair I can take in one sitting. Sonic Highways, which documents the Foo Fighters’ continental traverse of eight cities to record the album of the same name, looked like a good possibility. One of the producers is an old friend of mine, and I really liked the episode in DC featuring Ian MacKaye of Minor Threat and Fugazi. But it just didn’t speak to my mood.

Lacking any new content from any of the various Kardashian clan members, and with no interest in Larry King’s infomercial on fish oil, I swapped remotes and decided to scan the Netflix menu. I’m not sure if they offer the same library of films and television shows internationally, but in America, they actually have a decent selection of music documentaries. (Ed’s Pick: If you haven’t watched The Punk Singer about Bikini Kill and specifically Kathleen Hanna, do check it out.)

Whatever algorithm Netflix uses for recommendations, they hit it out of the park when on my list I found This Ain’t No Mouse Music!, the story of song catcher Chris Strachwitz. And while the music takes center stage, the leading man is this most extraordinary German-born folklorist, archivist, fanatical record collector and founder of Arhoolie Records who has spent over 50 years preserving American roots music. Produced and directed by Chris Simon and Maureen Gosling, who each previously worked with the world-renowned documentarian Les Blank, the film uses both archival and new footage for a look into Chris’ world.

The stories come alive when you hear them straight from the man who traveled to Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana in the early ’60s to record blues musicians such as Mance Lipscomb, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Big Mama Thornton, and Fred McDowell. Hopkins introduced Strachwitz to his wife’s cousin Clifton Chenier, and in 1965 Strachwitz recorded Chenier in Houston. This led Strachwitz to make dozens of Cajun and Creole recordings from New Orleans with musicians such as Beausoleil, Autin Pitre, Amede Ardoin, Canray Fontenot, and others.

Over the years, Strachwitz loaded the car with his tape recorder and microphones to cruise throughout the countryside, and he’d set up on porches, in the fields, at beer joints, and local festivals. In addition to the blues, he added country, bluegrass, old-time, Mexican regional, Tejano, world, jazz, gospel, folk, and polka to the Arhoolie catalog. He recorded and released Country Joe and The Fish’s “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag” in exchange for the publishing rights, which earned him quite a bit of money after Joe got thrown on the stage at Woodstock a few years later and the moment was preserved on film and soundtrack. The cash infusion helped finance Strachwitz’s field recordings and fueled his record consumer passion. (He gave the publishing back to Joe after 20 years.)

Along with Strachwitz’s recollections and stories, interviews in This Ain’t No Mouse Music! are woven together to present an oral history of this man and his work. Some of the people you’ll see and hear are Ry Cooder, Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal, Flaco Jimenez, Michael Doucet, Richard Thompson, Santiago Jimenez Jr., The Pine Leaf Boys, the Treme Brass Band, No Speed Limit, and various friends, colleagues, folklorists, and the staff from the label and store.

Another aspect of Strachwitz’s story is that he is a fanatical collector of 78s, many of which he has released on compilations. In 1995 he founded the Arhoolie Foundation to document, preserve, present, and disseminate authentic traditional and regional music. So far he has donated over 17,000 78s, 23,000 45s, and 4,000 albums of Mexican-American and Mexican vernacular music that are being digitized. The foundation also has financed films and educational programs.

This film has been kicking around the festival circuit off and on for almost two years, and it’s now available on DVD as well as being screened at select theaters and universities. There’s also a companion soundtrack available, and you can find it and the entire amazing music catalog on the Arhoolie Records website. Here are a few more tunes to get you in the mood …

This was originally published as an Easy Ed’s Broadside column at No Depression: The Journal of Roots Music’s website.

Many of my past columns, articles, and essays can be accessed here at my own site, therealeasyed.com. I also aggregate news and videos on both Flipboard and Facebook as The Real Easy Ed: Americana and Roots Music Daily. My Twitter handle is @therealeasyed and my email address is easyed@therealeasyed.com

The Sixteen Stories of Anna and Elizabeth

It’s been an especially cold and snowy winter here in New York’s Hudson Valley, although not quite on the level of what my friends up in Boston have been dealing with. They just might stay frosty until the summer. But it’s been a good time to catch up on films, books, and music. On my digital jukebox, I’ve been exploring several compilations of 78 rpm records that have been recently released, and I can thank Amanda Petrusich for that directional nudge. Her wonderful book on record collecting and the people who do it (Do Not Sell At Any Price: The Wild, Obsessive Hunt for the World’s Rarest 78rpm Records) sort of gnawed at me, to the point that I was barely able to listen to anything that didn’t have oodles of scratches and surface noise coming out of the speakers. Indeed, there is something to be said for low fidelity.

Ten days ago, the sun finally peeked out a little and the mercury began to rise. I felt the pull to hear something with a more current vibe. Preparing to take a much-needed ride through the country, I stopped at my mailbox, found a disc in a plain brown cardboard envelope, got into my car, put it into the player and took off. Honestly, I didn’t even look at the cover or read the note that was stuffed in the package. It didn’t matter. My ears were longing for something new – a singer or songwriter, a band, folk, blues, country, rock, techno, neo-industrial post-punk thrash – it really didn’t matter. Something. Anything. Modern. Please.

What came out of the speakers were two voices and 16 songs. Anna Roberts-Gevalt and Elizabeth LaPrelle. Harmonic vocals, banjo, fiddle, guitar. One track has a bass. There is a touch of uilleann pipes. Anna & Elizabeth, as they call themselves, did not sound like anything new; but it sounded simply amazing.

I turned off the heat in the car, rolled down the windows, cranked up the volume, and drove around long enough to listen to each song three times. I got home, found their website, sent Roberts-Gevalt an email, listened one more time, and three hours later I was talking to Jefferson Hamer from the Murphy Beds and telling him about this great album I discovered. He sort of smiled, scratched his beard and said, “Yeah, me and Eamon just recorded some stuff with them. They’re great, aren’t they?”

LaPrelle is a native of Rural Retreat, Virginia. While her friends listened to Britney Spears and Maroon 5, she found herself deep in the archives of old-time ballad singers.

“The hair stood up on the back of my neck,” she told Beth Macy for Garden & Gun of the first time she heard North Carolina novelist and balladeer Sheila Kay Adams. “There was something very magnetic about hearing just that one voice, seeing the potential it has to focus attention like a laser beam.” She attended the College of William and Mary and majored in a self-designed program of Southern Appalachian traditional performance.

Roberts-Gevalt, meanwhile, got into old-time music in college in Connecticut, where she was a gender studies major. She told Hearth Music: “I remember reading a book about string bands, and there was a two-page section dedicated to women musicians, saying there were lots of them, but that the author didn’t really find that much information about them. That kinda galvanized me to get interested in women musicians of Appalachia, and I wrote a thesis about three generations of women (and girls) playing fiddle in East Kentucky. From there, I was fortunate to receive a grant from Berea College to do oral histories about some of the women whose music is in the archive.” She spent a summer in Kentucky interning at a traditional music program, moved back to Connecticut the following summer, and eventually settled in southwest Virginia.

The two came together about five years ago, after they met at a house concert and discovered that they both shared an interest in presenting this music in different ways. Storytelling, dancing, original artwork, shadow puppetry, and scrolling illustrations made of felt called “crankies” are incorporated in their shows. And their multimedia approach helped score them a gig as hosts of the weekly Floyd Radio Show. This variety show, streamed at floydcountrystore.com, features original plays, comedy bits, ads, jingles, and music from the area’s finest pickers and singers.

Why two young women still in their 20s have chosen to study and perform Appalachian traditional music makes me scratch my head. When I was their age, I wouldn’t listen to my parents’ music, let alone what my grandparents might have heard. But they are among a growing number of people not only keeping it alive but building upon it.

Over on the Hearth Music website, I found an interview with Roberts-Gevalt in regards to a compilation album from this new generation of Appalachian old-time players called The New Young Fogies, Volume 1. There, she articulately addressed that group’s interest in not only the music, but the lifestyle and folklore:

“For some folks, it’s a matter of choosing to live how their families have lived for generations, music included. For others, it seems that there (is) a desire (and nostalgia) to find a life that was simple, or one that was based on tradition, or country living—music is one part of that.

There’s a lot of plaid wearing kids in old time music, and we get excited to try homemade wine or so-and-so’s ancient cornbread recipe. We delight in old things as much as old-time music. But this isn’t universally true. John Haywood (who is featured on the album), for example, also plays in a heavy metal band. And there are plenty of New Yorkers who love the tunes and would never want to live in the country.”

With such an intense music and cultural marketing focus taking place in Austin at SXSW this week as I sit here writing, I like the juxtaposition of Anna and Elizabeth celebrating their album release by not being there. Instead, there was a Sunday night in Brooklyn followed by a series of concerts in Vermont. In May they’ll be touring the UK, and their website (www.annaandelizabeth.com) lists their latest itinerary, including the Floyd dates.

Think I’ll listen to some Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard before I go to bed.

This was originally published by No Depression, as an Easy Ed’s Broadside column.

Spuyten Duyvil and The Social Music Hour

In late January, I sat in a basement recording studio listening to the playback of Spuyten Duyvil’s third album, The Social Music Hour Vol. 1. Based in New York’s Hudson Valley, this six-piece band is an in-demand regional touring group that has been kicking around clubs and festivals for several years. Now, they’re beginning to push those geographical boundaries.

They are led by songwriting couple Beth Kaufman and Mark Miller on most of the vocals, though Miller also plays tenor guitar and pretty much anything else with multiples of four strings. Rounding out the lineup are Jagoda on percussion, Rik Mercaldi on guitar and lap steel, John Neidhart on bass, and Jim Meigs blowin’ the harp.

That night, as the songs played on, I tried to gather some words in my head to best describe what my toe-tapping feet were feeling. While it exceeds my personal 140-letter-limit for any album review, I’d call it a well-curated collection of traditional tunes that are infused in blues and smoked with folk. Blending both old-time acoustic and modern electric instrumentation with a consistently strong vocal performance from start to finish, it’s an Americana treasure chest.

I recently reached out to Mark and spoke not only about the band and new album, but also of the other work he and Beth do in supporting fellow musicians and the local community.

Easy Ed: What was the genesis of Spuyten Duyvil?

Mark Miller: The band started as a series of front porch old-timey jam sessions here in Yonkers. We’d fire up the BBQ, chill some beer, and invite over friends and neighbors to pick and sing. We were pretty happy with this situation. As I started to write songs, some of the regulars urged us to look for gigs, and one thing just lead to another.

I imagine some of the band members have day jobs and other responsibilities, so how would you characterize your performing opportunities?

We’re a little past the point in our lives where we can give up our apartments for a tour van, so we need to be smart about our routing. Fortunately, we are based in New York and there are literally hundreds of gigs that we can easily get to and from. That said, we are now making regular runs to Chicago and hope to do some touring in Europe this year.

I’d describe you and Beth as “connectors” on the local music scene. You present concerts at various venues, promote artists beyond your own band, and reach out to partner with other organizations such as Common Ground, Caramoor, and Clearwater.

For the last six years, Beth and I have run a monthly concert series called Urban H2O. We book touring high-energy folk, Americana, and indie pop artists. Our shows also explore the intersection between great music and great food and drink, with musical farm-to-table dinners, pig roasts, and artisan cheese tastings. We also smoke and serve our own pastrami and West Coast-style salmon at the shows. Together, this has built a unique and loyal core audience that is able to support great acts that we meet on the road who have not fully established themselves in the New York metro area. These same bands do their best to help us out as we expand our touring range.

What is the concept behind the Social Music Hour?

We have always drawn on traditional music for inspiration in our writing and included a few trad tunes in our live shows. The Social Music Hour Vol. 1 is our love letter to the roots of all American popular music. Our goal was to bring a collection of iconic folk songs to a modern audience and add some oil to the log-burning lamp that is the folk process.

That last track is one of my favorite songs on the new album, and I also wanted to feature it because of the guest vocalist. As Spuyten Duyvil was finishing recording, Mark and Beth’s daughter Dena Miller was asked to take the lead for one last track: “Make Me a Pallet.” A high school senior who is currently nail-biting the college selection boogie, she gets high marks for an exceptional version of this classic.

The Social Music Hour Vol. 1 is available to stream on Spotify, and is for sale at iTunes and Amazon. For more information about the band and upcoming shows, check out their website: http://www.spuytenduyvilmusic.com

I’m closing down this week’s Broadside with a video I can’t seem to watch often enough. It was shot at the Rockwood Music Hall in Manhattan during the summer of 2012, with Spuyten Duyvil and The Stray Birds.

And this is why I love music.

This article was originally published as an Easy Ed’s Broadside column over at No Depression: The Journal of Roots Music.

Many of my past columns, articles, and essays can be accessed here at my own site, therealeasyed.com. I also aggregate news and videos on both Flipboard and Facebook as The Real Easy Ed: Americana and Roots Music Daily. My Twitter handle is @therealeasyed and my email address is easyed@therealeasyed.com.

Dom, Kristin and Jefferson…with a nod to Tom Paxton

As I was getting ready to go out the other night, my teenage son was doing the same. With his Spotify playlist blasting through the computer speakers, I heard a Patti Smith song and paused to tell him the story about the time I was on my way to an Elvis Presley concert back in 1975. I stopped by at a party celebrating Patti’s debut album. Just for a minute or two. A quick drink. Going to hear the King. I heard a scream. I watched as Patti crawled across the club floor, up the stairs to the stage and just screamed again while laying on her back. Then the music started.

It was the darnedest thing. I stayed.

My son…his musical palette is diverse. When a Tom Paxton song came on next, that set me off talkin’ about when I heard him at a Gaslight reunion a couple of years ago. Steve Earle was there, and so was Patrick Sky. I had nothing to offer about the thrash metal band whose song that followed.

While he went off to to play Dungeons and Dragons with friends, I headed northeast for the opening night of this year’s American Roots series at the Caramoor Center for Music and The Arts, located about an hour north of Manhattan. ‘American Songster’ Dom Flemons, on a tour supporting Prospect Hill, his first solo album since his departure from the Carolina Chocolate Drops, was the headliner. Kristin Andreassen and Jefferson Hamer opened the show playing together as a duo.

On a sprawling estate in a sea of snow and ice yet to melt, the concert was presented in the Music Room, a warm and cozy space with its Renaissance furniture, needlework chairs, Italian maiolica pottery, Gothic tapestries and modern sculptures. While perhaps a far cry from the front porch of an old homestead in the hills of Virginia or a club in Brooklyn, if you want to hear roots music in a beautiful acoustically balanced venue where you can casually interact with the musicians after the show, this fits the bill.

I’ve been listening to Kristin for over a decade, although admittedly it’s only in the past year that I was able to connect the name with the voice. A fan of the bands Uncle Earl and Sometymes Why, it was during her set at this year’s Brooklyn Bluegrass Bash that I came to learn that she had been with both.

With her new album Gondolier picking up airplay and interest in the roots community (No Depression featured her first video) and beyond (CMT, The Bluegrass Situation), seeing her perform in this setting allowed her to show off her talents in solo and close harmony singing, guitar, harp, uke, body percussion and dance. She presented several offerings of her new music which simply sparkles, and Jefferson added his to the set list, including at least one from the critically acclaimed Child Ballads album that he released with Anais Mitchell.

Dom Flemons is a force of nature and a showman; whirling around the stage from instrument to instrument, spinning yarns and telling tales of the great country and blues musicians from the past, alternating from original material to old time songs that would be lost forever if it wasn’t for his respect and care in keeping it alive.

With his set divided between both solo work and his trio that included Mike Johnson on percussion and Brian Farrow on bass, it’s a roller coaster of entertainment and musical heritage not to be missed. He brought Kristin back up to do some clog dancing, sing and play the harp and in an unusual moment of personal coincidence, spoke lovingly of the Tom Paxton whom he met at Folk Alliance. This song from his new album is one he wrote with him in mind.

Something that makes both Dom and Kristin special beyond their talent, is that each spend time working with different programs that give back to and nurture the music community in different ways. Dom is a board member for the Music Maker Relief Foundation, which was founded to preserve the musical traditions of the South by directly supporting the musicians who make it, ensuring their voices will not be silenced by poverty and time. And Kristin, along with Laura Cortese, founded Music of Miles Camp which hosts all-ages music workshops for both amateur and professionals in Brooklyn, Boston and a week-long summer retreat in New Hampshire.

Next up for Caramoor’s American Roots series is Willie Watson and Cricket Tells The Weather on April 11, followed by their annual festival on June 27 (Kristin will be there) with Lucinda Williams headlining. July 10th brings the ‘I’m With Her Tour’ with Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz and Aoife O’Donovan.

I’m going to close out this final Weekly Broadside with Kristin’s new video. Next week I debut a new column, exclusive to No Depression. Whatever we call it, keep comin’ back.

The song is “Lookout”

An appropriate title.

https://youtu.be/RSznPKU6U1I