Songs From Poems -> The Hammond Organ: Tavern

Kris Delmhorst: Tavern

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Kris Delmhorst's 2006 album Strange Conversation is an especially literary one, comprised entirely of songs based around or adapted from poems. The set includes a full range of performances, from full-on electrified folkpop to sultry singer-songwriter narratives, from dustbowl americana confessionals to soft, almost jazz-folk mood pieces, all of which hew close to the poetic moods established by the like of cummings, Byron, Browning, Whitman, Rumi, George Eliot, and other names generally less well known outside of the world of English Lit, making the album one of the true gems of any well-read audiophile's collection.

Like the album itself, this song - which varies not a whit from the original poem of the same name by American poet and feminist Edna St. Vincent Millay - is both ambitious and beautiful, made all the more so by the bluesy bass, brush drums, and organ which accompany Delmhort's whispered alto and deliberate guitarwork. It is also one of the few uses of the Hammond Organ I know which appear in the world of folk music. Expect plenty of Jazz, Blues, and Rock, especially from the 60's and 70's, and perhaps a few surprises to boot, as we feature songs which use the unique instrument in the week-to-come.

For the Birds: Hummingbird and Skylark and Owl, oh my!

Kris Delmhorst: Hummingbird

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Bette Midler: Skylark

[purchase]


Carrie Newcomer: I Heard an Owl

[purchase]

I must say I was quite pleased when I heard what this week's theme was to be... because I had made a Birds mix CD a few years back and thought I could cull some good songs from there - upon perusing the tracklist, it turns out that most of them have the generic word Bird in the title (rather than a certain type of feathered friend). Ah, well - plenty more where those came from, especially in my aviary of female artists...

I adore anything Kris Delmhorst sings and writes... and this is a breathy confessional of hiding her light, flower and voice until the object of her affection is out of sight/earshot, at which point she shines brightly, blooms profusely and sings beautifully - over the years, she's perfected The Art of Melancholy Sweetness...

I've been a Bette Midler fan for decades, having been turned on to her music by a college roommate - this classic reinterpretation is from her first album and, in retrospect, would have worked perfectly for our Torch Songs theme a few weeks back...

Carrie Newcomer's repertoire consists of lovely, inspirational songs that cut straight to the heart and spirit - this is her reaction to the events of September 11 ("the only peace this world will know can only come from love")...

Record Labels: Signature Sounds

Peter Mulvey: The Fly

[purchase]

Kris Delmhorst: Galuppi Baldessare

[purchase]

Eilen Jewell: Heartache Boulevard

[purchase]

Signature Sounds has only been around since 1995. But in fourteen years, they have managed to corner the market on the New England acoustic music scene. A Signature Sounds artist or band usually features literate lyrics and interesting instrumental arrangements. The high quality of their roster makes it all but impossible to select a track to represent the label.

The first Signature Sounds act to come to my attention was Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer. I have not presented any of there songs here , because Susan has done recently, here, here and here. .

Peter Mulvey has become another favorite artist of mine, and had to be included. Kris Delmhorst’s album Strange Conversation was a fascinating project; Delmhorst created songs from texts by Lord Byron, Rumi, and Walt Whitman, to name a few, and her musical settings were every bit as inspired as the source texts. And Eilen Jewell was a fairly recent signing, who maintains the standards of quality that Signature Sounds has so carefully cultivated.

So those were my choices. I could have left all of them out, and gone with Crooked Still, Rani Arbo, Jeffrey Foucalt, Mark Ereli... You see my difficulty. I have come to rely on Signature Sounds to release music I love: they haven’t failed me yet.

Trains: The Tracks Edition

Kris Delmhorst: You're No Train

[purchase]

John Gorka: I Don't Feel Like a Train

[purchase] (out of print through his website)

So... all week we've been hearing about things from the point of view of the train... and I thought it time for another side of the story, eh? - perspective is everything. In a train songs mix I made for myself a few years ago, I placed these one after the other, and now I consider them lifelong companion pieces - "baby you’re no train, you’re the track, always running away, always running back"... and "I don't feel like a train anymore, I feel like the track, and if you want to change your luck put a penny on my back"...

I've written about Kris Delmhorst before - from her website:

Kris Delmhorst has built a thriving career and a devoted following from the ground up, and without major label hype. The same independence of spirit that led Delmhorst to spend some early years working on subsistence farms, cooking on a schooner off the coast of Maine, or hitch-hiking the back roads of Ireland with a fiddle on her back, is evident in the arc of her musical evolution: a willingness to work on her own terms and her own time. Along the way she's parlayed a decade of successful cross country and trans-Atlantic touring into one of the most distinct voices in American music.

John Gorka is a folk icon... and I've been lucky enough to see John quite a few times at various festivals and conferences... as well as anticipating his appearance in my concert series in February 2010 (trying to wait patiently!) - from his website:

His albums and his touring (over 150 nights a year at times) brought new accolades for his craft. Rolling Stone called him “the preeminent male singer/songwriter of the new folk movement.” His rich multi-faceted songs full of depth, beauty and emotion gained increasing attention from critics and audiences across the country, as well as in Europe where his tours led him through Italy, Belgium, Scotland, Ireland, Holland, Switzerland and Germany.

Leftovers (Fifty States): Arizona, Florida, North Dakota, Utah

I would have loved to have been around for this theme – even in retrospect, I can read between the [state] lines of the mad scramble in being first to post, as all 50 finally were covered, albeit with some boundary-stretching. I have perused the entirety of submissions, as well as related comments, and feel fairly confident my picks below were not mentioned!

The Nudes: Arizona

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The Nudes (a.k.a. Walter Parks and Stephanie Winters) were a musical- and romantic–duo, he on guitar and she on cello – their sound was jazzy, moody, sultry (BH cover alert: Norwegian Wood)… and quite captivating until they went their separate ways in 1999. The first time I saw Dar Williams in a tiny bar in Ft. Myers, Florida (January 1998) she was accompanied by Stephanie (and Ellis Paul was her opener!) – post-breakup, Walter became a touring sideman for Richie Havens… and now Stephanie has joined the two of them on the road, she and Walter reuniting as Winters & Parks.

Richard Julian: Florida

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I first saw Richard Julian at the Cleveland Folk Alliance (2000), introduced by Buddy Mondlock, who I was already a fan of – we exchanged cards, I invited him down for a house concert and put together a mini-tour as enticement. He was only just beginning to open for Norah Jones, and has since formed The Little Willies (also with Norah), as well as continuing a solo career – love this dark side of the Parrothead pendulum swing (which was written and recorded *before* the visit with us!).

Kris Delmhorst: North Dakota

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Ah, Kris – she would have been my first house concert (January 2000), had not her flight been delayed from Boston, due to snow – I had to call/e-mail all 35 invitees and tell them the show could not go on (as they re-routed her through Texas, arriving in Ft. Lauderdale the following morning for our South Florida Folk Festival). Appetite is in my Top Ten, her songwriting so wise for someone so young – love the spare instrumentation on this tune, her heart beating for the state in which he’s never stepped foot…

Brian Joseph: Utah

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Brian Joseph too was a Folk Alliance discovery (San Diego 2003) and a house concert artist later that year – BH, I should send you his version (with Melanie Hersch) of Walk Like An Egyptian. Brian is tall, funny and quirky - Utah, the hidden track on We’re Gonna Laugh, cleverly describes a state of long-distance mind over matter…


P.S. This theme would of course not be complete without Fruvous’ The Lowest Highest Point!