I heart my new speakers January 19, 2008

When I moved out of my last apartment (and the nice stereo system there), I didn’t realize that my laptop would become the center of my musical life, almost more than my instruments. I’m a power digital music user. To give you an idea, here are many of the musical things I use my computer for:

• Listening to music (recreationally)
• Learnig lyrics, melodies, and chord changes to songs
• Slow songs down to learn and/or transcribe the mandolin or guitar parts
• Transpose songs to different keys to learn the parts in a girl singer-friendly key (most bluegrass is sung by guys)
• Transfer audio recordings of lessons, back-up tracks for practicing, recordings of new solos I make up to iTunes

You get the point. I should really have good speakers.

But it wasn’t until I realized I couldn’t finish working with our engineer on finishing mixing the Nellies‘ CD unless I could actually HEAR the mixes, that I finally bit the bullet. I read the CNET reviews, I read the feedback on Amazon, and I went for the cool-looking ones with the good sound but weird controls (otherwise known as the Harman Kardon SoundSticks II).

It sounds hyperbolic to describe new speakers as life-changing, but it’s really not. Music was starting to, um, bore me, which didn’t exactly put me in a panic — more like an identity crisis (who am I if I don’t devote a big chunk of my life to music). Now, I feel like I’ve found that joy of discovering new music again, only I’m listening to things that I’ve had on my computer for years. And when I heard how clearly Doyle Lawson’s mandolin comes through on the left speaker on the Bluegrass Album Band stuff, I couldn’t believe how I learned as much as I did on the Bluegrass Album Band Plan* with my teeny speakers.

Now playing: Buck Owens, 21 #1 Hits: Ultimate Collection.

*Bluegrass Album Band Plan (BGABP): A total bluegrass geek endeavor in which a few friends and I learned an entire album by the Bluegrass Album Band (a bluegrass supergroup) note-for-note Yeah, I’m a dork.

Guitarists Need Pictures January 7, 2008

My friends over at Fretboard Journal just posted this link in their hilarious music-geek blog, so I’m posting it too. So funny because it’s so true.

I had the top news story on CMT.com yesterday June 29, 2007

I so wish I had taken a screen shot of it. It’s my piece on Amnesia’s Bluegrass Mondays and the Doyle Lawson Singalong. Not only is it one of my favorite pieces that I’ve written, but it’s also one that was the least edited. (And no, the light edit isn’t the only reason it’s a favorite of mine.)

See the rest of my photos here.

I like a synth-pop band? May 22, 2007

My friend Dan’s band, Squaretape, played–or rather, ROCKED–at Bay to Breakers on Sunday. Check out this KRON-4 video on them:

Marche aux Puces II: Sunday, 1 April 2007 April 1, 2007

Vanvespiano

Originally uploaded by commamommas.

Here’s a busker playing a sweet piano on a rolling cart at the flea market at Vanves. Note the jaunty angle at which he holds his cigarette in his mouth.

Clignancourt & Montmartre: Saturday, 31 March 2007 March 31, 2007

chienatclignancourt

Originally uploaded by commamommas.

One of the things I was most excited about doing on this trip was seeing the flea markets (les marches aux puces–literally “flea market”) at Clignancourt and Vanves. People tend to have a strong preference for one over the other, and it’s difficult to sort through all the information as to which is better. The short version is that Clignancourt has a lot of stuff. A lot of crap, a lot of pristine (and expensive) antiques, and a lot of stuff in between, all organized into multiple marches (markets). Vanves has much less of everything–much less junk, much fewer nice antiques–and has more of the feel of an American flea market. And it only takes about an hour or so to meander through.

Clignancourt feels like a little city, once you push your way past the booths of jeans, incense, knock-off pocketbooks, etc. (and you do have to push), you get to these organized markets of antiques dealers. Everyone has at least one dining room table in their stall, and around one p.m., I discovered why: they lay out a tablecloth, put out a pretty impressive spread of food, open a few bottles of red wine, gather up their shopkeeper friends, and eat lunch together. It’s really cool.

By the way, my advice is to head straight for rue de Rosiers a Saint-Ouen when you’re going. That’s where La Chope des Puces is, and it’s also the far end of the nice stuff (Marche Paul Bert has the nicest things).

I searched for pots for pots de creme, but didn’t turn up anything. A monsieur, who was very helpful and had a stall of fancy kitchenware, told me they’re very hard to find. I did see a stuffed baby kangaroo and was going to ask the shopkeeper to take my photo with it, but he was eating lunch with his friends and talking to some other Americans. Come to think of it, there was a lot of taxidermy at Clignancourt.

After Clignancourt, I headed for La Chope des Puces, the bar with Gypsy jazz. It’s a tiny place. You enter and the art deco-y counter points right at you. You can take one of the eight seats (at four tables) in the front, stand by the bar, or go and sit at one of the six or so tables in the restaurant part in the back. The musicians–two guitarists–were mostly talking and telling jokes with some friends standing at the bar, but the music I did hear was great. Plus, it was fun to stare at the photos of Django and compare everyone’s version of the de rigeur Django moustache (I liked the bartender’s best).

curvezigmontmartre

Originally uploaded by commamommas.

I wandered around Montmartre in the rain Sat. afternoon. Sharlene was right, it’s “very Amelie.”

Avram’s recommendations (Pt. 2): Paris March 26, 2007

Here’s more from Avram:

okay here’s some stuff:
http://www.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=la+chope+des+puces&near=Paris,+France&sa=X&oi=local&ct=title – it’s even got a picture of the same guy i shot that video of.
and do you know about this: http://photos.pagesjaunes.fr/. it is so cool.

and the other cool flea market is by the Vanves metro stop. you gotta check it out. it’s just about a block and a half or so from the stop. i believe the name for flea markets is something like “marche des puces” (and i think puce or puces means flea …)
and, here is the shop i got my django guitar at.
over there they are often called manouche guitars and “django jazz” is often called “manouche jazz”
there are two places in my friends neighborhood that they really like. one is chez janou and the other is le petite fer au cheval (i need to check those spellings)
the neighborhood is the marais – not far from the bastille and place de voges. there is a street near there called (i think) rue de rosiers but it’s not the same as the one with the gypsy bar (way different neighborhoods) and also a big street called rue saint antoine (which turns into rue des rivoli as it gets close to the river and ends up by the louvre). it’s a great neighborhood for wandering around. the picasso museum is also there.

Avram’s recommendations: Paris March 22, 2007

I thought I’d gather some of people’s recommendations of things to do here, partially so I don’t forget them and partially so other people can share in them. So here’s one from Avram:

The name of the bar where the gypsy jazz jam happens on weekend afternoons (not positive if one or both days but i think both) is “La Chope Des Puces” near the clignancourt flea market. i do remember having a fun and simple (if not amazing) meal across the street. and, don’t be fooled – when you get off at the clignancourt (if i’m spelling it right) metro station and head for the the flea market(s), you will first run into a bunch of crap. you have to go past, through or around all that to get to the real flea market. and, just when you think you’ve seen it all and think that you’re out of it, you’ll come across another big covered mall full of shops. i think that there’s one that’s the oldest or whatever, but there is still good stuff in the others. finally, the chope des puces will be just around the corner from you.

Addition: I found a French website that had more information. Voila l’addresse: 122, rue des Rosiers à Saint-Ouen (93). It looks like the jam happens on Saturdays, Sundays, and jours feries (holidays) from 2 pm to 4 pm.

Country Music and Politics February 17, 2007

My friend Chuck Poling wrote this really interesting article on country music during the Cold War.

Country music is such an interesting genre, polticially, to me, not just because it’s dominated by the Reba McEntires and Toby Keiths right now, but because the whole thing is much more complicated, for many country musicians, than it appears on the surface. It’s not just Toby Keith vs. the Dixie Chicks. There were/are people like Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard, who get lumped in with the conservatives, but if you look more closely at their politics, they adopt a very Christian-influenced approach.

Before you get your hackles raised, let me clarify that I don’t mean “Christian” in the sense of an organized religion (and certainly not Christian as in conservative Republican). I mean it in the sense of following true Christian ideals: a dedication to the common man and a fight for the dignity of that person. I know, you’re thinking Merle is still the same guy who wrote “Okie from Muskogee.” But look at that song: in addition to the anti-hippie theme, the lyrics are also about dignity and pride in one’s heritage. And, he recently told Acoustic Guitar magazine that his political beliefs have changed.

Merle Haggard, liberal icon?

Haggard realizes that it’s complex. He grew up poor. He did time. He doesn’t have time for the pie-in-the-sky idealism from folks who never really had to worry about how to put the next meal on the table (i.e., people like me). It’s easy to be idealistic when you have a safety net. And hey, we need those idealists. They’re an important part of the whole process because they show us what we can aspire to. But for the populists, it’s a fight for what’s right with an understanding of what can be achieved with hard work.

Take, for example, the energy crisis. Some folks put bumper stickers on their cars and try to conserve and go out and protest the war. That’s great. They’re getting their message across in a succinct way, and it’s an important message, AND they’re taking measures to help fix the problem. But Willie Nelson says, “Hey, I’m going to start a business and get truckers using biodiesel, which will save the American family farm, get us out from under OPEC’s thumb, AND help the environment.” Win-win. Hag’s on the green energy thing, too.

Personally, I like that kind of politics. I like it when people don’t dwell on the problem but instead are focused on constructive, mutually beneficial solutions. Go Willie and Hag.

Here’s more on country music and politics from NPR. I’m sad that a Loretta song was on a Nixon record. But after having just watched Nashville, maybe I understand better how that happened?

In time of need, I turn to music September 27, 2005

This has been one heck of a month, so to keep my mind off it, here are my music picks for the SF area.

9/28: New Pornographers, Bimbos 365 Club
Neko Case, that alt-country angel, singing power pop. And she’s not even the lead singer. That’s how good the New Pornographers are. But only go if you can’t make it to the killer Barefoot Nellies show that night.

9/30: Very Strictly Bluegrass, Plough and Stars
Some of my favorite bands (and good friends) are playing within walking distance from my house and I’ll be at a wedding in Santa Barbara. O cruel world! Honestly, every act on the bill puts on a good show, but the Lone Mtn. Sisters and Homespun Rowdy are my personal favorites because they’re my pals. This is a fundraiser for musicians displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

10/1-10/2: Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Golden Gate Park
Everyone’s going to (and should) check out Earl Scruggs, Hot Rize, Doc, Del McCoury, and Dolly, but I say avoid the crowd.

On Saturday, check out Calexico with Los Super Seven. I haven’t heard them play together, but Calexico is a great, great band with a truly unique sound (here, unique means good). Skip the Peasall sisters–we all had enough of them after O Brother. But Wake the Dead and Perfect Strangers are two great, but very different, bands with great, but very different, mandolin players (one of whom I used to work with and one of whom is my mando teacher).

And on Sunday, if you’re not checking out Del McCoury at Rancho Nicasio, go see Tim O’Brien, not only because he, too, is a fine mando player, but because Danny Barnes, quite possibly my favorite banjo player in the world, is touring with him and it should be a great show. The Be Good Tanyas will probably be good (I wonder if I can make that sentence a palindrome?). If you want to see fine showmanship, go see Rhonda Vincent. She can plug every single product she and her band endorses in a way that leaves you completely entertained, yet filled with a strange desire to go out and buy Martha White flour. It’s amazing. Plus, she’s got a great voice and when she does pick a mando, it’s pretty sick especially considering the amount of sequins she wears. If Tony Rice shows up to the gig, the Peter Rowan/Tony Rice could be a good one to catch if you like hot flatpicking over treacly singer-songwriter songs.

Look at all my recommendations. Maybe I do like mandolin.

10/19: Iron and Wine/Calexico, the Warfield
Their duet EP is one of my favorites this year, and the juxtaposition of Sam Beam’s whispered vocals and Calexico’s mariachi horns is oddly satisfying. “A History of Lovers” is a great song off that EP, by the way. If you don’t own it, it’s worth it just for that song.

11/11: My Morning Jacket, the Fillmore
I’m curious to see how good a show these guys put on because their albums are filled with beautiful music that I can’t imagine hearing live. But I thought that about the Cure after Disintegration came out and that tour was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. I’m not expecting MMJ to live up to the Cure’s standards (since they probably don’t put the same attention the Cure does towards light shows, pointy hair, and eye makeup), but I bet it will be good.

And my favorite newish discovery, Samantha Stollenwerck. Check her out when you can. She’s very nice, too.