FAI Hashdown

It's Wednesday night.
Tomorrow night I have no plans to go out... and it's EXACTLY what I need.
Why? Because I need to do boring normal people things. I need to do laundry and I need to get some writing done..  I need to ... crap. in writing this I just remembered I do have plans.

This is why I write.


I figure I'll go thru some of my favourites from Folk Alliance and share them here...

So, like OCFF, basically there are the public showcases and then the private ones. I missed The Milk Carton Kids in their public showcase, but I managed to shoehorn myself into their last private showcase.  Picture this if you can- a Suite in the hotel, the bed has been removed, the couches pushed against the wall. These suites can fit about 30 comfortably, room for people to move around, the band at the "front".

Now get rid of the front of the room... place two singers in the round- in the centre of the room... fit more chairs in... now shove people into every available space and start to question the structural integrity of the building when you realize there's more 80 people in the room.

Got that?

ok.

now the sound guy says "you're all going to have to be silent for this to work", as the humidity in the room has shorted out something in the board and it's suddenly an acoustic set... the room goes silent, and stays silent for the entire 30 minute set... except for that part when someone in the hall knocks on the door trying to get in.. and the entire room (including the musicians) dies of laughter as each person realizes they can't even turn to look at the door.

Mush up against someone and listen to this...

It's like simon and garfunkle had babies with ron sexsmith and then those babies locked themselves in their bedrooms till they were 25 with only their guitars to keep them company. Like that.

gluh bluh

Still not really able to form thoughts... I made it thru the day today with mostly fooling the people around me into believing I was my normal self...

So, few words tonight still.

Here's a song I keep trying to whistle or sing to myself, but um. it's nothing like what I've got in my head... and nothing like what it is live.

FAI2013 wrap up

Ok,
I've returned from Folk Alliance.
I'm beat... not in the way I've been beat on returning from OCFF in the past -I've learned that if I only have one or two drinks each night during showcases I'll a) not want to die the next morning from fatigue b) hear more music and c) have a better time!

I'm beat in that "my brain no longer functions in a way that allows me to form a sentence" way, and I'm just plain old "people'd out". I need to stare at a wall and sing loudly to myself or not hear ANYTHING for a few hours. Either approach should do the trick.

What did I see?
What did I love?
What did I learn?
Who did I meet?

I don't have answers for any of that right now.

Wait.. that's a lie.

I went to 8 showcases and an awards presentation Wednesday night, 1 thursday (I came in just in time to start my volunteer shift, then went to bed...) 3 workshops, 6 showcases, and 14 private showcases Friday, 8 showcases and ... um... 12? private showcases Saturday.... um... I think ... just doing the math quick in my head, that's close to 70 acts. Not counting the randoms playing in lobbies and stairwells and volunteer check-in... Some well loved favourites, and a bunch of new (to me) solos/groups...  

I heard some AMAZING stuff this week. Live music will always trump a recording...

My favourites tomorrow night....

Hobbit Nation

Last night was just perfect!
A huge thanks to Kaye and Neil for opening their home to a gaggle of people they didn't even know... Actually, there were people at this show that I didn't know either. I love that the series has grown like that- true enough, most of the people I didn't know had come because it was Kerri playing, but I'm sure I'll see some of them again.

Another great thing about last night was the number of people new to house concerts! About one third of our 35 people had never been to a house concert before... that's pretty cool.

There were some glitches with the live streaming- the set up of the space made it kind of awkward to check the feed. I think I'll have to put someone in charge of that for me during a show. It's a little much hosting/organizing and doing techie type things, in the past I've wished there was some moderator on the chat too...

Kerri was adorable as always, but with this really sweet almost overwhelmed-with-gratitude thing... She made the audience feel like we were doing her this huge favour by being there- her face each time we sang along with the well known pieces, her reaction when we broke into harmonies with her new music was so touching...I nearly cried watching the joy in her face... meanwhile- it was we who were so thankful she could be there! Having good music come to a small space means so much to our little community.

Paul's songs were fabulous- what a welcome surprise. I loved his low mellow voice, and the tricky way his songs made me bob my head along happily to songs of heartbreak... haha, so funny when I think about it now. Having the two of them sing together was a real treat. Kerri's voice has this AMAZING resonance to it- near pitch perfect (if not dead on!)- so her tones have this cool way of rolling back into themselves... um... that might not make as much sense written down as it does in my head... anyway, her voice would stand alone so clearly and Paul's voice would sort of melt into the notes... it was really neat pairing...  like like like.

SO- if you have the chance to hear Kerri Ough's solo stuff, I recommend that you do... AND I recommend that you find a way to hear Paul Mathew's "happy sounding sad songs"... which, I think might be my new favourite genre. Seriously.

odd ear

so, My eyes are broken from the lights and the smoke... and if I go to bed right now, I'll be awake at 4am.

instead, I'm listening to "free to be you and me" on youtube. well, the video is playing, but my eyes can't take too much, I'm typing with my eyes closed too.

the video I've never seen before, so the parts I'm watching are pretty new to me..  I grew up with the record and didn't even know there was a film version of it till a few weeks ago.

Here's the crazy thing.

the music.

of course, I remember all the words to the stories and songs... but the entire album is a third lower than I remember.

I wonder why.

lyrics to be heard

eyes look your last

arms take your last embrace

and lips, oh ye the doors of breath....

sealed with a righteous kiss... the rest is silence.

(for those of you who knew within moments of reading this where it's from... hush for a second and enjoy my oblivion)

So we've finished up learning all the songs for the second act.

And I'm blown away by some of the lyrics used in the songs.. there's some really beautiful stuff in there, and I'm afraid that most people will miss it just hearing it one time thru... I missed it hearing it on the sound track...

So while we were learning one of the pieces I was ready to melt down. (see the opening piece) The lyrics were stunning. The harmonies painfully lovely.

And I was losing it because it was a background piece in a play called Hair. Who would ever get to hear these incredible words? Who would ever feel the song?

I made it my mission to tell everyone about this amazing bit piece we'd learned, and convinced myself that it was my duty to share it with the world. seriously... If I've seen you in the past three weeks I'm sure I quoted it to you.

And if I did, thank you for being so gracious as to humour me and not humiliate me.

Last week I had some time... and some money. So, I did what came natural... I bought some movies.

It was while I was laying on the couch watching one of them that I realized what a putz I can be.

Did I absorb nothing in grade nine English class?

Romeo holds his dear Juliet's hand to his face, and whispering thru the tears utters

Eyes, look your last

arms take your last embrace

and lips oh you the doors of breath....

#987 (getting closer!)

At one point in time, I'd found a second to breathe and went to a sacred harp shapenote singing.
(check out this site for info)
Singing makes me breathless... not in the way where there's no way to breathe, but in the way that a harmony can knock the wind right out of me... I think I've talked about the "ache" before.

Resolutely Outmoded found this quote, and while I think it was more directed at the shapenote tradition, I think it is fantastic.

“Get enough people singing weird harmonies at the top of their voices and you
start feeling a little sorry for the devil.”
- Joe Dempsey, Washington City Paper