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The Incorrigible Iconoclast
Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Whatever You’re Having, Etc. We’ll let this video from Dana Cooper speak (sing) for itself and then I’m unplugging for a couple of days.
Here’s a Christmas Eve post (redundant for those of you who’ve already seen it via my Facebook page, but new to some…) – a video of Keith Medley and his 27 string harp guitar. I was introduced to Keith a couple months ago by Jon Grimson, who produced this video:
I got to see Keith Medley perform for the first time in the lobby the Frist Museum in Nashville last night. Quite stirring, a wonderful way to start the holiday weekend.
Keith Medley at The Frist
I have been struggling for 40+ years to make sense of the six strings on a conventional six-string guitar. It’s quite sobering to watch an hear somebody weave musical magic with twenty-seven strings.
You can listen to Keith’s entire CD “Ancestors” – an read stories of the songs’ origins -from his website. I strongly suggest you do.
Another video for your viewing pleasure:
Jon actually sent me this video himself a couple of days ago, and I found it clever and entertaining in a “novelty song” sorta way. But after reading this account in Music Row magazine, I think I’m even more intrigued with the the time, effort — and, no doubt, expense — that went into this particular effort. Seems there were quite a few hands on this particular project:
The music video, created by filmmaker Louise Woehrie of Whirlygig Productions is inspired by Vezner’s wry humor and deadpan persona. Using a traveling minstrel theme, Woehrie joined forces with co-director/editor Chip Johnson and graphic designer Casey Burres to bring the tale to life as Vezner dons his troubador hat to comment and commiserate with fellow app addicts about life on the cutting tech trail.
I wonder what the budget was, and how it fits into a larger marketing plan. I mean, where’s the “email for a download” function that would build Jon’s fan base (it’s not on his website) ?
I mean, it’s very clever, but it also seems to to exist in something of a vacuum, marketing wise. What’s the plan, Jon? How is this building your audience? I’m sure there’s a method to your madness, clue me in?
Oh, and if you’re viewing the video on your computer, blow it up to full screen – the HD quality holds up VERY nicely.
…Paul & Eleanore draw inspiration “From the Fire.”
Paul Kamm and Eleanore MacDonald
I remember well a cold afternoon in the winter of 1996… Frigid drafts blew through my small, poorly insulated apartment on the outskirts of Nashville where I was building something called a “website” for musicians and listening to various CDs as I cobbled together HTML code.
As one CD ended I put on another that somebody had sent me. And suddenly, the drafty chill was dissipated by an unexpected harmonic warmth. And I literally looked at my stereo and asked myself…”who are those people…?”
Those people were Paul Kamm and Eleanore MacDonald, a duo from the Sierra foothills of central California who have been writing, recording and performing together for more than two decades. And the harmonic magic that enchanted me those many years ago has awakened again with a new CD. From the Fire (iTunes / CDBaby) is Paul and Eleanore’s eighth release in a discography that remains eminently listenable from the first.
"Utah" Phillips
Music writers will sometimes write of the powerful, natural blend of “sibling harmonies.” That sort of organic vocal blend that first caught my ear remains the prominent feature here. Paul and Eleanore are not siblings, they are a married couple approaching their silver anniversary. But it is hard to imagine any two voices that were ever more destined to sing together.
Listen to tracks from the new CD here:
Julia Nunes: Emissary from The Future
Julia Nunes came to Nashville last night, and brought with her the latest incarnation of “Music 3.0.”
If you’re not familiar with the name, Julia Nunes is the poster child for launching a career by posting cover songs on YouTube. I started hearing about her probably a year ago from my colleague Charles Alexander.
Julia Nunes’ clever, engaging, DIY videos have garnered hundreds of thousands — collectively, millions — of views on YouTube, and have generated enough of a fan base that she raised nearly $80,000 with a Kickstarter campaign to record a full CD of her originals. Now she has management (AC Entertainment, the people who bring you Bonnaroo) and promotion and distribution (Nashville’s Thirty Tigers) and a career with some air under its wings.
And, judging from the packed house at The Basement last night, she has an enthusiastic audience — some of whom drove considerable distances to see her, and most of whom were probably seeing her in person for the first time. That fact was underscored by the comment I overheard from one young woman in the audience as Julia took the stage, “I can’t believe she’s not on my computer screen!” Score one for “reality.”
Indeed, what I found most compelling about this show was not the performance, but the audience. Continue reading →