KATE CAMPBELL

 

MERCY ME, CHILD! YOU NEED TO HEAR THIS WOMAN!

 

CENTER FOR SOUTHERN FOLKLORE

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE

NOVEMBER 5, 2016

 

       KATE CAMPBELL IS A PK! You Southerners out there know perfectly well what a PK is...She is a Preacher's Kid. In her case, a Southern Baptist preacher's kid from Sledge, Mississippi. Being a preacher's kid means that she's moved around a lot and she's heard a boxcar load of Sunday morning sermons. Sunday night and Wednesday night services, too, more than likely.

       Given that background over the years, Kate became a complete sponge, absorbing the thoughts, the feeling, the ways, the songs, the heartbeat, the good and bad times, the lifestyle of people all over the South, regardless of race, color, religion or the lack thereof.

       There are storytellers who write it down for folks to read; some share their stories via the spoken word, and singer-songwriters deliver the story in their songs. You know who they are: William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Shelby Foote, Congressman John Lewis, J.D. Vance, Rick Bragg, Minton Sparks, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Pete Seeger, Louisa Branscomb, and Claire Lynch, to name a few, plus our subject for today, Kate Campbell.

       While it has been many a year since I last saw and heard Kate Campbell, I jumped at the chance to go with a friend to Center for Southern Folklore to hear the artist I remember from quite a while back. Judy Peiser handles the goings-on for the Center, located at 119 South Main Street, Memphis, TN 38103. Judy and I got reacquainted prior to Kate's performance, and it was great seeing both of these fabulously "uppity" women again!

Stage at Center for Southern Folklore

       Center for Southern Folklore is completely funky! It's a great spot for entertainment! Nothing matches anything else, great posters, folk art, and collected items are on the walls, Christmas lights stay up the year 'round, and stuff is just kinda stuck here and there. It all works! You can sit pretty much wherever you want. A wonderful hostess brings popcorn and asks what you would like to drink. Artists mingle with the crowd before and after their concerts. It's a lot like a house concert but at somebody else's house!

Judy Peiser introducing Kate Campbell

         Judy Peiser introduced Kate and the artist settled into her chair with her guitar. She got her foot positioned just right on her footstool, checked the microphone, and off she went with Miles of Blues followed by The New South (gotta have a fluffy, expensive little dog like a Bichon Frise), and Mississippi and Me. See Rock City (Sissy from Mississippi) was followed by Fade to Blue and Yellow Guitar (from a short story by Eudora Welty). Kate took some time to talk about Galway to Graceland, a song about going to see the King (Elvis). The song was written by Englishman Richard Thompson.

       A Cotton Field Away brought remembrances of times when Elvis wasn't the king. Cotton was King and downtown Memphis still shows vestiges of the "white gold" heyday in the 1930s and '40s.

 

 

       Delmus Jackson was the black man Kate met at her church, and to whom she gives much credit for his influence on her. Delmus had nine children and times were hard, but he took the time to talk to Kate. They understood each other. Delmus explained that he was "working for the Lord, and seeing His face will be his reward" when the Lord says, "Well done". Her song about this simple, hard-working man brought tears.

       Galaxie 500 and Crazy in Alabama are about how the train of change is coming fast, maybe a little too fast for Alabama to keep up. Other Southern states struggle with change, too. Lay Back the Darkness is a dream about laying down the blues for good, if that day ever comes.

       Bud's Cement Boat has a fooler of a title. Bud's boat was actually the "Sea Mint", and part of the boat may still be visible somewhere in Alabama today.

       Kate Campbell's encore was Joe Louis, and it was about a person who had boxer Joe Louis' furniture in his den! While Kate sang, Judy Peiser slipped a beautiful piece of folk art onto the edge of the stage. The work is called "Brown Bomber".

Brown Bomber

       The show was brief and we would love to have listened late into the night. We had hoped for Jesus and Tomatoes Coming Soon and also Funeral Food, but we will wait for the next time that Kate brings her wonderful, quirky Southern stories in song to Center for Southern Folklore, maybe in her Galaxie 500!

 

CDs we picked up at the show: The K.O.A. Tapes (Vol. 1), Save the Day, Blues and Lamentations, and Wandering Strange. Kate Campbell has these and several more available at her website. The Folklore store has a good supply of Kate's CDs, too!

 

Kate Campbell sightings soon:

March 6-9, 2017  Provincetown, MA  Cape Cod Songwriters, Sloan Wainwright and Tom Kimmel. Contact David Roth davidrothmusic@gmail.com or 508.360.8325.

 

2017 Ireland Tour with Kate Campbell -  9-day tour of Counties Mayo, Galway, and Clare (counties could change). Contact Kate at info@katecampbell.com

 

For more information:

Kate Campbell  www.katecampbell.com

Center for Southern Folklore  www.southernfolklore.com

 

 

`

THE BROCK McGUIRE BAND 

PAINTS MEMPHIS GREEN:  

IRELAND CAME TO TOWN  

AND LEFT US SPEECHLESS!

October 15, 2016

 

Dr. Nancy Chase on Bagpipes

     IRELAND TRULY DID COME TO TOWN and we who attended DR. NANCY CHASE's house concert in October just had no idea what was in store for us! It has taken this writer a month to even recover and figure out where to start with my blog about the experience!

       We could start with Dr. Chase's generous welcome, the light supper, and the mingling of band members and guests. Nancy has had practice at hosting house concerts, and she was ready for the BROCK MCGUIRE BAND. We found comfortable seating, ate our snacks, and we chatted with those around us as we waited  for the band to get into place.

       Dr. Chase brought the band out by playing her bagpipes, for which she has become well-known in our region. The pipes will make a crowd settle down and pay attention! Getting into place were PAUL BROCK (accordion and 10-key melodion), MANUS McGUIRE (fiddle), DENIS CAREY (piano), and DAVE CURLEY (percussion and Irish dancing on a large wooden board). Dave Curley suffered a previous injury to his arm, or we would have heard him on guitar, mandolin, and banjo.

 

L to R: Paul Brock, Denis Carey, Manus McGuire

       The program began with Paddy in London and The Old Blackthorn Stick. The tunes came from James Morrison of County Sligo, Ireland, and from Jimmy Shand of Scotland. Then came Blue Bell Polka (which we in America know as Flop-Eared Mule), The Frost Is All Over, Tom Moore's Downfall, Lucy Campbell, and the Genevieve Waltz, named for Manus McGuire's wife.

       The next treat was Dave Curley's dancing on the wooden board to The Blackbird (from County Kerry). Next, Denis Carey held us spellbound with his beautiful Emigration Suite, Goodbye to the Loneliness. Dave Curley arose again to dance to some reels out of Quebec, Canada. Dave sang Paddy's Lamentations, which told of a warning to countrymen about what he found in America--fighting for Lincoln. He went on to mention that Choctaws here in America in the 1840's sent money and buckwheat to Ireland during the terrible famine.

       The last songs in the first set were Because It's There and The Coalminer's Reel from The Flanagan Brothers.

      Set two began with Dave Curley dancing to three reels from Sligo: Miss Langford, Humours of Westport, and Come West Along the Road. The reels were followed by The Flowing Bowl, McGoldrick, Carey Fergus (Dave singing), Cooley's Galway Rambler, and Skylark (Dave dancing).

L to R: Manus McGuire and Dave Curley

Dave Curley Irish Dance

      Next up was the moving Isle of Hope, the story of the first person to be processed on Ellis Island in New York. The person was Danny Moore, age 15. Ellis Island closed to emigration in 1943.

       The next tune was Connaught Man's Ramble (The Rambler), and it was followed by an air by Paul Brock. The song was Love (or Darling) of My Heart, about longing for one's homeland.

       Paul Brock entertained us on melodion with Chase Me Charlie, Dance Boatman Dance, and Poor Old Liza Jane.

       As the concert began to wind down, we heard The Rose and the Heather, Boys of the Town, Drowsy Maggie, and The Red-Haired Lass. The Brock McGuire Band's encore was the familiar tune called The Irish Washerwoman.

       The people who attended the concert were completely mesmerized during the entire performance. The Brock McGuire Band is such a fine group of amazing entertainers. "Miss them at your peril," as my friend from County Clare, Maura O'Connell would say.

       We can now add the Brock McGuire Band to our growing list of incredible Irish musicians: Maura O'Connell, Karan Casey, John Mock, Sean Og Graham, Gerry O'Beirne, Frankie Gavin, Tommy McCarthy, Louise Costello, and more whose names escape me at this moment.

      

       Here are two amazing albums which have not been out of the CD player for the last month!

"Green Grass--Blue Grass" - a collaboration with Ricky Skaggs and other American bluegrass artists.

"Hands Across the Water" - a collaboration between American and Irish musicians to benefit the children of Southeast Asia who were affected by the tsunami. Both of these albums are stunningly beautiful. We suggest that you add them to your collection.

 

     More Information: www.brockmcguireband.com



 



  A BLUEGRASS MONDAY 'TWO-FER'  

THE FARM HANDS & BREAKING GRASS

November 14, 2016

 

     The Collins Theatre in Paragould, AR, is the home of Bluegrass Monday, which means that the fourth Monday of each month, KASU-91.9 FM (on the campus of Arkansas State University in Jonesboro) and some wonderful local sponsors provide super bluegrass music to folks from miles around. The events are free; however, the hat is passed for a suggested minimum of a five-dollar donation from each fan. Even better is the fact that all proceeds go directly to the musicians who perform on a particular evening. KASU-91.9 FM Program Director, Marty Scarbrough, does the MC work and even passes the 'Dr. Seuss' hat for the donations. Prior to each Bluegrass Monday show, Terry's Café, just down the way from the theater, opens at 4:30 PM for their delicious buffet dinner. They serve until about 15 minutes before the show, so fans can eat dinner and get a bit of exercise when they walk back to the Collins Theatre. It's a wonderful experience!

 

 THE FARM HANDS  BLUEGRASS QUARTET performed at Bluegrass Monday on September 26, 2016, and they are one terrific band. Accomplished musicians with deep prior credentials, the band really knows their bluegrass and bluegrass gospel music. Band members are TIM GRAVES (Dobro and vocals), DARYL MOSLEY (bass and vocals), KEITH TEW (guitar and vocals), and DON Hill (banjo). The band mixed in a bit of comedy and conversation about fried pies, but their music is just second to none!

     Here is what we heard: Anywhere Is Home, I Never Go Around Mirrors, Foggy Mountain Rock, The Way I Was Raised, Back When Mama Prayed and Daddy Plowed, Medals for Mothers, Nashville Skyline Rag, The River Claimed 109, In a Country Town, Jesus Blazed the Trail, I Saw the Light, Over in the Glory Land, The Dobro Chimes, Dig in the Dirt, Tell Me Baby Why You Been Gone So Long, The Streets of Gold, Am I a Fool for Hanging On, Ask the Blind Man--He Saw It All, and a medley of I'll Fly Away, Will the Circle Be Unbroken, and Glory Glory Glory--Must Be the Hands of our Lord.

     Information: www.farmhandsquartet.com

 

 

 

     BREAKING GRASS rolled into Paragould from their homes in Mississippi and Alabama on October 24, 2016, and this hot young band is already working on their fourth CD. With several band competitions and even Uncle Dave Macon Days under their belts, they are fast becoming seasoned bluegrass professionals. Band members are CODY FARRAR (guitar and lead vocals), TYLER WHITE (fiddle), JODY ELMORE (banjo and vocals), BRITT SHEFFIELD (bass and vocals), and ZACH WOOTEN (mandolin and vocals).

     Here are some of the songs we heard from this up-and-coming band: Carry On; Callin' Baton Rouge; High on the Mountain; Diggin' Up Georgia; Medley: Mr. Sandman, My Girl, Hotel California, I Want It That Way, and Nothing but a Heartache; Nothin' Like Bein' Blue; Cold Rain; Shine; I Guess You Had Other Plans; There in Heaven I'll No More Lonesome Be; That Ol' Grave Is Just a Hole in the Ground; Carry Me Back to East Virginia; Not My Time to Die; April Rain Is Coming Down; So Much for Pretending; Short Shorts; Taking and Giving; Warning Signs (Think I Love You); You Left Before I Could Lie; God's Still Good; I Feel You Near (Cody, for his dad); Be Assured; There Ain't No Need to Shoot Me for It Now; and Uncle Pen

     Information: www.breakinggrass.com

 

Coming attractions at The Collins: THE BLUEGRASS MARTINS  November 28, 2016

Information: www.bluegrassmartins.com 

TALK ABOUT OLD-TIME MUSIC--

WPA DAY AT CEDARS OF LEBANON STATE PARK 

PROVIDES THE PERFECT BACKGROUND    

October 8, 2016

 

  

     The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was formed in May of 1935 and it was dissolved in June of 1943. During that brief span of time, President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal agency put 8.5 million mostly-unskilled men (and a lesser number of women) to work constructing public buildings, roads, public parks, and airports. 

     The wages were low but times were hard, and at least it was an income. Women were consigned to even lower-paying activities such as sewing, bookbinding, caring for the elderly, school lunch programs, nursery school, and recreational work. Ellen Woodward, director of women's programs in the WPA, pushed for women's inclusion in the Professional Projects Division, where women were treated more equally to men, especially in the federal art, music, theater, and writers' projects.

     Cedar Forest in Lebanon (Wilson County), Tennessee, was beginning to take shape in the early 1930s, and the beautiful Cedar Forest Lodge (which still serves visitors today) was built during the span of the mid-1930s into the early 1940s. Cedar Forest Lodge was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. Cedars of Lebanon State Park is an active, busy place with a huge variety of activities which take place the year 'round.

     WPA DAY was begun at Cedars of Lebanon State Park several years ago in tribute to the WPA and the Civilian Conservation Corps (the CCC) and the men and women who worked so hard to establish the many roads, buildings, parks, and recreational outlets throughout America that we still enjoy today.

     The most recent WPA Day was held on October 8, 2016, a bright and sparkling autumn day. Activities were spread out all over the park, especially around the Lodge. Here are some of the activities which took place throughout the day: a cornbread cooking contest, arts and crafts, demonstrations of weaving, chair-making, blacksmithing, wood shingle-making, and soap-making. There were pottery makers, basket weavers, split-rail fence makers, a cross-cut saw contest, and traditional music by a variety of local musicians who are keeping old-time string band music alive.

     For information about WPA Day and Cedars of Lebanon State Park, contact Wayne (Buddy) Ingram, Park Manager, at wayne.ingram@tn.gov or at (615)443-2792. You may also wish to contact the Friends of Cedars of Lebanon State Park at www.friendsofcedars.com

    

     Here are some photos from WPA Day of October 8, 2016. Why not make plans to go to WPA Day in 2017?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





WMOT FM 89.5 ROOTS RADIO

MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY

KICKED OFF SEPTEMBER 2, 2016

 

     SEPTEMBER 2, 2016 was a big, really big, day for bluegrass and Americana music fans in Tennessee and wherever radio waves can travel. At noon on that date, WMOT FM 89.5, the 100,000-watt station which originates from the campus of Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) in Murfreesboro, TN, changed its format from classical to roots radio. How good is that! Oh yeah, very good! The event was broadcast from the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee. This writer just happened to catch the event which was listed on the WPLN FM 90.3 (public radio in Nashville) daily internet blog.

New Logo for WMOT FM 89.5 Roots Radio in Middle Tennessee

     Suddenly, there were musicians coming 'live at me from my computer--musicians whom I had grown to know and love since discovering bluegrass music in the early 1980s at the Tennessee Gentlemen Bluegrass Shack in Lucy, a suburb of Memphis, Tennessee. There was Randy Kohrs, Mike Bub, Jim Van Cleve, Alison Brown, our longtime friend Richard Bailey, and Tammy Rogers, along with Suzy Bogguss, Will Hoge, and Mike Farris, to drop a few very popular names in Nashville Music.

     Thanks to Dr. Sidney McPhee, President of MTSU, Martin Fisher at the Center for Popular Music at MTSU, Ken Paulson, Keith Bilbrey, Craig Havighurst and Jim Lauderdale of Music City Roots (from The Factory, Franklin, Tennessee), Val Hoeppner, and so many more who are behind the scenes and making the transition work so well. We who love and write about bluegrass, old-time, and traditional music, are more than grateful for the exciting change in radio programming at WMOT FM.89.5. It happened right there on the campus of MTSU, home of my beloved Blue Raiders. We know that there are great things to come from WMOT FM 89.5 Roots Radio!

 

For more information:

WMOT-FM  http://www.wmot.org  Also on HD Radio

Music City Roots  http://www.musiccityroots.com

 

Pick away and don't touch that dial! 

 

MAURA O'CONNELL & KARAN CASEY

THE FRANKLIN (TN) THEATRE

JULY 28, 2016

 

Photos from an earlier concert at Bartlett (TN) Performing Arts and Conference Center

No photos were allowed at the Franklin Theatre

 

 

     MAURA O'CONNELL and KARAN CASEY brought the fresh breezes of Ireland to Franklin, TN, and that's not the half of it! They brought along multi-instrumentalists JOHN MOCK and SEAN OG GRAHAM, the latter of whom arrived in Tennessee from Ireland mere hours before he performed with the group at The Franklin Theatre. These artists, separately and together, are nothing short of amazing! We are so glad we went to the concert!

 



 

 

 

 

 

Maura is from Ennis, County Clare in Ireland. She is a singer and actress who now calls America home. She has declared US citizenship. Welcome, Maura! Her modern interpretations of Irish folk songs have dazzled folks all over the world. Maura began her singing career at home in Ireland and later became the vocalist for the Celtic group called De Dannan. Wishing to experiment with music, she moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and met Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Russ Barenberg, and Edgar Meyer, among others. Talk about starting at the top! Oh my! She made wonderful albums with songs that have become her stand-by tunes: Trouble in the Fields, Summer Fly, Western Highway, Feet of a Dancer, and Blue Train, to name but a few. Maura resides in Nashville with her husband and her son.

 

     Karan is from Kilmeaden, County Waterford in Ireland. She is a singer, songwriter, pianist, and producer. A former member of the Irish band Solas, Karan began singing in church and at school. Karan has more recently pursued a solo career which has taken her back and forth from Ireland to America. She recently released the album"Two More Hours," in which she wrote all the songs. The album also features Irish singer Mick Flannery, Abigail Washburn, and Aoife O'Donovan. You may recognize Karan Casey and Maura O'Connell (along with Mary Chapin Carpenter, Aoife O'Donovan and others) from the ground-breaking DVD project by Dobro(r) master and producer Jerry Douglas, called "The Trans-Atlantic Sessions". Karan and her husband have two daughters.

 

     Here are the selections for that magical evening in which Maura and Karan were accompanied by John Mock and Sean Og Graham. We shall add a few notes along where necessary:

 

Mick McGilligan's Ball (duet, Maura/Karan); The King's Shilling (anti-war song); The Salley Gardens (from the poem by W. B. Yeats); an Irish lullabye which we couldn't begin to spell in Gaelic; Shades of Gloria (by singer-songwriter Gerry O'Beirne, who has performed in Memphis at a house concert); Down the Dusty Way; New Dawn, New Day (Karan); One I Love (a Jean Ritchie song); Summer Fly (a Cheryl Wheeler song); a song in Gaelic to a 16-year-old daughter, to which Karan said she could relate; Trouble in the Fields (written by Nanci Griffith, Maura/Karan duet); John Mock instrumental; A Far Cry (written by Malcolm Holcomb); The Poor Man's House (written by Patty Griffin); Mary (also by Patty Griffin, Mary who was covered in roses, to whom Jesus said "I couldn't stay another day longer"); Home (written by Poet Laureate Paula Meehan); Still Standing (written by Janis Ian); May the Rain Always Fall Soft Upon Your Fields (written by Jonell Mosser, dedicated to Jesse and Mac who were in the audience--the song is a traditional Irish blessing); ENCORE: Leaving Neidin (written by Jimmy McCarthy about a beautiful place known as The Silver Tear, which is between Kerry and Cork in Ireland).

 

Catch all of these fine artists any time and anywhere you can. To paraphrase Maura O'Connell, "Miss them at your peril!!!"

 

For more information:

Maura O'Connell   www.mauraoconnell.com

Karan Casey          www.karancasey.com

John Mock             www.johnmock.net

Sean Og Graham   Twitter @ SeanOgGraham

Franklin Theatre    www.franklintheatre.com



 

2016 IBMA AWARD WINNERS

WORLD OF BLUEGRASS

RALEIGH, NC 

SEPTEMBER 27 - OCTOBER 1, 2016

 

Entertainer of the Year - The Earls of Leicester

Female Vocalist - Becky Buller

Male Vocalist - Danny Paisley

Vocal Group - Flatt Lonesome

Instrumental Group - Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen

Song - "You're the One," Flatt Lonesome

Album - "Runaway Train," Flatt Lonesome

Gospel Recorded Performance - "All Dressed Up," Joe Mullins & Radio Ramblers

Instrumental Recorded Performance - "Fireball," Special Consensus, featuring Rob Ickes, Trey Hensley, and Alison Brown

Emerging Artist - Mountain Faith

Recorded Event - "Longneck Blues," Junior Sisk and Ronnie Bowman

Banjo - Charlie Cushman

Bass - Barry Bales

Dobro(R) - Jerry Douglas

Fiddle - Becky Buller

Guitar - Bryan Sutton

Mandolin - Sierra Hull

Bluegrass Hall of Fame Inductees: Clarence White, The Rounder Founders: Ken Irwin, Marian Leighton Levy, and Bill Nowlin

Distinguished Achievement Award: "Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine," Boston Bluegrass Union, Sirius XM Radio's "Bluegrass Junction," Bill Emerson, and Jim Rooney

 

Congratulations to one and all!

Pick away!