The past couple of weeks may have left you wondering whether we were still focussing on acoustic-based independent singer/songwriters, after our R.E.M theme and last week’s Neil Young tribute, so this week we’re back to basics with some classic singer/songwriters, some great new music from folks like Ryan Adams, Ray Lamontagne, Lucinda Williams, Luke Doucet, and more. Yeah, we played a Pince cover, a Radiohead cover, and a Beatles cover, but you just can’t entirely overhaul the format overnight!
Neilfest part II
Prerecorded because the gang’s off at the long awaited Neil Young show at the arena. In honour of one of the greatest singer/songwriters of all, this is our own Steel Belted Neilfest, featuring a bunch of Neil’s best, as well as some covers and Neil related songs to get you in the mood for the concert, or to make you feel bad if you missed it.
I couldn’t believe it when I saw R.E.M. on Austin City Limits this week. They’re not roots music! Or are they? I figured if they’re good enough for ACL, darn it, they’re good enough for us too. Plus, they’re the only members of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame that I’ve met, and I always like to brag about that. It seems that some pretty folky singer/songwriters are fans too, because not only did we hear a few R.E.M. originals and collaborators, but we heard some folky covers of their stuff as well.
All of this got me in the mood for some good old fashioned pop music. Although I’m an old folky now, I was raised on a steady diet of pop music, so I never pass up the chance to bop along to some hooks & melodies, so some classic pop nuggets.
But we can’t get away without some folk & roots, and that came in honour of our friends at Candor, who are holding their “wedding” social this week to raise money for a new store/venue. We played just some of the great artists lending a hand to the worthwhile cause.
It’s a good news/bad news kind of day. The good news is that there are some great upcoming shows featuring the likes of Elliott BROOD and C.R. Avery, as well as some great new stuff.
Unfortunately the bad news is that lots of my new music comes from the closing out sale at Candor. When the bad news hit that they were going to be forced to close down for a while, it came as a shock, so I headed down to stock up on some things that I hadn’t made a point of picking up yet, but knew I’d better while I still had the chance. They’ll be back, bigger and better than ever, but in the meantime, thanks for the musical memories and best of luck!
This past week the world was introduced to the next generation of Tell the Band to Go Home hosts, my son Jeremy. He’s been filling our home and our lives with joy (and plenty of noise…) ever since. THe bulk of the show was dedicated to him, with some great kids’ music.
We went to the other end of the spectrum for the latter part of the show, paying tribute to a couple of dinosaurs who are coming to town in the next while, Neil Diamond and Elton John.
Last night was the long-awaited and much anticipated return of the Mike Plume Band at the Pyramid. Unfortunately, Mike went on well after my normal bedtime. That, plus the return to the working world this week had me feeling really tired, and a little punchy today. All of this is to make excuses for my silly behaviour and poor planning. Luckily, I had some great music on hand to cover for my ineptitude. The first hour was a little slow and sentimental, the second hour we perked it up with some rockin’ classics.