Music: We Are Trees

This is what Spotify can do. I searched for songs with "sunset" in the title and I was given a list to browse, listen, and found We Are Trees this way.  Their song "Sunrise, Sunset" captured me with its first "ohh-oh-oh" and held me through to the last beat.  They even have a mesmerizing video (in my opinion) on YouTube for the song.  View it here:

We Are Trees have two EPs available for download through their bandcamp.com website: Boyfriend (July 2010) and Girlfriend (March 2011). Each digital album has four or five songs for your listening pleasure. These are songs I imagine I'd appreciate most while walking in a park, bicycling through neighborhoods, or driving with the windows down on an early spring day in the country. Plenty of trees. Bound to lift a smile on your face with the free-spirited lilt of the instrumentation. Virginia Beach's own James Nee has a voice that provides the just-right optimism his lyrics already contain, he just releases it into every sung lyric. The fullness of the drums and percussion carries the music with that insistent hopefulness of happy-go-lucky songs. I can't stay seated; These are motivating rhythms. The opening guitar in "You" on Girlfriend is thoughtful and comforting. The melodies are happy, wistful, wishful, but the lyrics address relationship troubles on the horizon in this 2-minute song: "How am I supposed to try to pretend that everything's all right". This might be my second favorite song by them other than "Sunrise, Sunset" on Boyfriend, which was my first impression and introduction to the their magic. Girlfriend's last song has more electric power and push, more energy to send you off into your day. View this lovely video here:
We Are Trees - I Don't Believe In Love from Illusive Media on Vimeo.
So a late Saturday night browsing in Spotify turned into a magical discovery of uplifting music. What a sweet gift.

Addict

I find it just a little mind-boggling how a book read twice during high school was one of the contributing texts that convinced me to not pursue drugs, curious as I might have been, and yet it continues to be banned and removed from public and school libraries.  When I read it I did not know that it was actually a work of fiction or imaginatively compiled and edited diary entries of a psychologist's patient instead of the claimed anonymous diary of a troubled teen. Go Ask Alice was a quick read that both sparked curiosity in certain drugs but also solidified my own grounded sense of self-control and self-preservation.  I wanted to be freer than I felt, but the stories told by those who went too far with drugs never presented them as being free and in control of their lives, but instead wracked with the turmoil caused by heroin, cocaine, acid, ecstasy, and meth.

I remember reading Go Ask Alice sometime in eighth or ninth grade for the first time.  I read it again my senior year because I had a friend (on whom I had a crush on) who progressed from one drug to another during the fall semester until one day he came to school so high on acid that he allegedly had danced like a chicken on the discipline dean's desk. His charisma had perked my interest, and if I had been in the right place at the wrong time I would have tried anything with him just to be around him.  And I realized this, so I set my feet back on the ground by rereading Go Ask Alice.  And when I learned he went to rehab during the winter break, I sent my book by way of a friend to him.  I don't recall if he ever said he got it, or if my friend succeeded in getting it to him.  I never did manage to run with any friends who did hard drugs, but I knew some of my classmates did. I've never seen the made-for-TV movie based on the book.

I believe I read Foxfire by Joyce Carol Oates during my freshman year, or the summer before sophomore year.  Foxfire was another novel that had a real weight of honesty and reality drawn into the plot.  I don't remember specifics from the novel so much anymore because in 1996 a film was made from the novel, leaving out some of the lengthy plot and adding a few more twists. When I think of Foxfire I recall mostly scenes from the film.  A mix-match group of girls bonded together by the same cause, who help and protect each other when various problems rise up in each one's lives.  The hardest of them all is Goldie and how her drug addiction spirals into a mess of problems and disappointment.

There's any number of songs that heighten and raise up the creativity-inducing elements of drugs, but there's nearly an equal amount that share the ails of addiction.  I did not hear this song when it first came out but instead heard it years later when I delved into a myriad of female indie-alternative folk musicians.  Somehow I came across K's Choice and their song "Not An Addict."  The song's lyrics are poignant, nevermind that the intro is like a sad crying of someone desperate, alone, addicted, and wrecked.

I've still never tried acid or 'shrooms, and certainly have never tried anything like the cocaine, heroin, meth, etc.  A glass of wine, a beer, a little bourbon is about as far as my interests go.  But even alcohol is something I approach cautiously, knowing that I do have an addictive nature if I let it go completely.  I've never liked the idea of drinking to get drunk because the few times I have felt drunk I did not find it a pleasant feeling that I wanted to repeat.  No, instead, I have a glass or two of wine with a meal, or three beers over the course of a long evening, followed by a glass of water.  I have fun by being surrounded by music, or talking with people, or taking pictures.  I enjoy being myself with friends who are stronger and more entertaining than any state-altering drug could propose.

Thursday July 7, 2011

Dinner Bell at PenHouse

Woke early and got on the road to Lexington.  I took Highway 25 from Berea to Richmond and meant to stop at Monty's Liquor, but it wasn't on my mind and I drove right past it without it.  Through Richmond I meant to stay on 25, but it always confuses me just north of town and I ended up on I-75 instead. I wanted to drive over that one car bridge in the shadows of big oak trees lining the Kentucky River.  I've heard stories about people disappearing in the neighborhoods around there.

Oh, and we can't forget the music. On the way to Lexington I logged that the Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton song "Islands in the Stream" struck a little chord or two for me while speeding up I-75. Somewhere along I-64 I remembered my adoration for U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name", although I hoped that I would easily find where I needed to go outside of Frankfort, with or without street names. Here's a couple videos just for fun.

Kit, happy smile

I finally made it to the Panera where Kit and I decided upon meeting and I got a mocha and waited outside for her to arrive.  We talked a long while there about life, work, career choices, dreams, health and medicine, and after a while we realized we'd better get going to her apartment.  Following her down Richmond Road, back onto Man-O-War, and around to one of the off streets and apartment  complexes, I was thinking about the many times I'd driven the 45 minute drive (I made it in 30 one night...) when I had dated someone in the city.   But this apartment complex wrapped around on itself and we parked our cars.  It's an interesting experience to see the interior homes of people you've known for some time but always in public settings like coffeehouses, classrooms, libraries, and stores.  It says a little more about that friend.  Kit called up her son to say hello and I saw that Lane had grown into a bright and energetic teenager.  She and I set up shop to talk about the fabric collage artwork I would create for her using clothing from her best friend who passed away recently.  We sifted through the leopard print, the pretty blue pillowcase, the hoodie.  She also pored over some trinkets she'd collected from her friend and from her own life.  She wanted a little bit of herself in the artwork to bind their friendship together.  We talked over some ideas, symbols, creatures, themes, and then it was time to go.  Time had flown.  It was now 2:30pm.

View from my room at PenHouse

After farewells and hugs, I made my way up I-75 to I-64 to exit 58 for Frankfort to head out to Normandi's and David's farm.  I passed David on the road before arriving at PenHouse, but he was working on turning the curve and I was smiling at recognizing him en route.  I winded down the road, turned up a gravel road with fields of tobacco and corn on my right and a tall line of trees edging the drop below.  AT one point another car was coming toward me down the mostly one-lane road and he drove past me on the right, rising up on the inclining shoulder.  Soon I saw the white farmhouse peeking through the trees on my left and I drove up in between two lovely gateways. I recognized her navy blue car and was glad to know she was home. I peeked in, shouted upstairs, and before long Normandi was showing me the ins-and-outs of PenHouse Retreat Center.  There were several very comfortable and inviting bedrooms with desks, bookshelves stocked with titles by theme for each room.

Bookshelves & Comfy Chair

The Kentucky room appealed to me with its blue window curtains, poetry books, and a view into a great big tree.  The second window by the dresser looked out and down into the bright green valley lined with trees and blooming flowers.  I brought in a few of my things up the endearing creaking wooden stairway, and after I had settled my stuff, I joined Normandi and David at the kitchen table to chat and snack on cucumbers from their garden, cheese, and Ritz crackers.

We talked a while about writing, concepts and themes, upcoming ideas, and what our mutual friends were doing.  Then I rode with Normandi to Frankfort because she had a class to attend at the public library.  There I met up with her daughter Alaina, who showed me all the soap opera actors and actresses she follows and participates with for charities.  She wanted to design a new blog for one of them.  When Normandi's class ended at 8pm, we rode back to the house with Alaina close behind.

We arrived just in time for the musicians who trickled in while we were gone.  Fiddle tunes were coming from the big barn. Musicians included Joel, Tom C, John Hartford, Anna, Marshall, and of course David on his banjo.   We all sat 'round in the circle, me with my camera and video camera. The music went 'round and 'round the group, a leg kick signaling the last turn on any given song.  I can't remember all the songs that played, many of which I hadn't heard in a long long time and a few I hadn't heard ever before.  Alaina had brought around a sling-back chair to lounge and read in, but after a while the comforting music and the warm air made me drowsy.  I managed to record a few songs on video, though the lighting was dark.

Old Time Music Jam in the Barn

Old Time Music Jam in the Barn

Kentucky Room at PenHouse Retreat Center

Most of us retired around 10:30pm, but we ended up chatting a while longer at the kitchen table.  David came in after the tuneful bunch had left, and prepared himself to sleep in the tent by the corn so he'll keep the raccoons away.  Back upstairs in the Kentucky room and pored over the shelves to read the authors she's stockpiled there.  I pulled a couple familiar poetry books to browse and re-read a few poems by some people I know and a few I don't know but appreciate as if I did.  Sleepy, I pulled back the white coverlet, rested my head on the pillow, and turned out the light.

In the backyard, gardens and get-aways

Adirondack chairs for enjoying sunrise to sunset

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Black Feather Cafe lunch & journal

I woke to my alarm but I snoozed it for 30 minutes before finally waking up to Phoebe already in the shower. I moved my car so that she will be able to leave for work; Brian came back by with cinnamon rolls. We each had two -- a perfect breakfast -- and Phoebe left for work. I showered, dresses, prepared for my day in town. What to do? Anglin Falls? Pinnacles? Too hot and humid?

When I first arrived at Black Feather Cafe this morning I met Irene and her daughter Sophia outside, and another woman was there, Karin, and we hit it off fantastic right away. Irene asked me where I was staying, I mentioned Phoebe, and Karin perked up, "You're friends with Phoebe?!" And all the connections were made. Irene was working on her computer; Their home is infested with fleas somehow and was being fumigated. She's engaged to Tate. So when I mentioned I'd be trying to meet up with Clarence later that evening, Karin lit up and "invited herself along" (as she puts it) but really I welcomed her to go with us. I immediately adored her.  But then I started to worry that the time from 5-6 would be too short a visit, especially if part of that was consumed with driving to and from the house.  I was supposed to have dinner with Jack at 6pm at Main Street Cafe.  I promised Phoebe I'd take her to see Clarence's pottery after she gets off work at 5pm.  So I decide to call Jack back and reschedule the dinner for 7pm instead, afraid that I won't get to spend any time visiting with Clarence with Phoebe and Karin. So Jack called me back and said 7pm would be fine with him. Whew!

Lightning Tree, from one angle

Lightning Tree, from another angle

I took a break and drove around Berea for a while again, remembering particular places, events, people. I visited what I call The Lightning Tree and took several pictures of it. I have been told this is a Southern Red Oak tree.  I took a small piece of the interior bark that was revealed by the lightning strike scar.  I took it so that I could bring a little piece of that memory back with me to Oklahoma. This tree inspired a poem where I explore my relationship, memory, and death of my father.  I haven't shared the poem with anyone because it still needs so much work and some parts of it need a softer touch.  The ideas of the poem came to me when I was night-walking around town and I stopped by this tree, looked up at the sky, and saw the constellation for Gemini, my dad's zodiac sign. The tree grew in my mind as a symbol for him: Big, limbs wide and open, scarred, vulnerable though strong, overpowering though protective, and deeply rooted into the earth. 

The Lightning Tree

The Lightning Tree

I walked past Phoebe's workplace and she poked her head out to say, "Hi" and brought me inside for a minute. I snapped a picture of her at work bringing stuff into the kiln to be fired. We talked about the evening trip with Karin to meet Clarence for a chat. So then I got fudge at the Candy Kitchen and a few more pictures downtown.

Phoebe workin' that pottery

Lookin' down Old Town Berea

Five o'clock rolled around and I went to Black Feather, met Karin there and waited for Phoebe. Meantime, Jose was there helping a BC student concerning her car keys locked in her car. Locksmith was called but it had not yet arrived when Phoebe showed up. I walked with Jose about working in OKC and at NCWHM, Rodeo oral histories, etc. He asked about contemporary African American rodeo people being interviewed, but I'm not familiar with any who are being interviewed for the project I know.

So Karin, Phoebe, and I pile into my car and ride up to the homestead and it was a real treat to pull up to see him out there to meet us on the porch. He brought us around to the pottery and showed his turning wheels and other potter ideas, especially concepts for the kiln and the clay body he'd like to have. He showed part of the house and we sat in the kitchen -- like old times -- to talk about pottery, Berea, history, how he and Vicky met their first day at Berea, about the artist community they'd like to create and foster there. Even the history of "Bob-town". I got all teary-eyed. I left the artwork and books for Vicky on a rocking chair. I hope that she finds it a real treat. I miss her and love her.

Clarence

Clarence's Pottery, in progress

Pottery Wheel

Karin (this morning)

It was really hard to leave because I didn't want to go yet and Clarence was talking great stories and sharing the food that Vicky's mom Cleo had brought by while we were there. Cleo remembered me. So when we finally left I gave him another hug and we hopped in the car for the drive back to Berea proper and I got back in time to meet Jack for dinner. Just as I was getting in the car he calls and tells me that Main Street Cafe was closed and that maybe we should eat at Wan Pen. So I met him there and I ordered the Pad Thai with shrimp. Jack and I talked about Berea, the relationships and friendships that have split over time, and other things. Dinner finally over, I left him to find Phoebe; I had a feeling she was still at Karin's so there I found her, and Kaia, too, talking in the grassy backyard.  Karin told me about places in Santa Fe and Taos I should go to when I visit in September. Kaia told me about hostels and museums and shops and restaurants I shouldn't miss either in Albuquerque. Lightning bugs were out and I marveled that I had missed them.  Then we all had to go and it was time for Karin to do some computer work for the evening. Phoebe and I made it back to her house and talked a while about people and things I'd seen and heard that day. Then we kinda waited for Brian to come by the house; We knew he would soon. He finally came and Phoebe met him outside before he could come inside. I wrote for a while and when she came back in we talked a while longer before finally retiring for the evening.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Good Morning, Lily.

I woke close to 10am, just in time to slip on my shoes and move my car so that Phoebe can drive her van to work. I stay at the house a while longer to wash up and get my things together to go to town. I finally arrive at Berea Coffee & Tea at 12:30pm to order what once was my regular lunch: a mocha and a roma panini. I set up my laptop to transfer photos off my camera card and onto my computer and to check email. While I stayed there, Micah arrives and we chat a little on and off again about his trip to Greece, also as he showed pics to his female friend on the couch. Nathan does a double-take when he recognizes me in the coffee shop. He tells me he just bought a little tractor; he's excited about it, and he reminds me to post a message to his wife Jessa that I'm in town (although she never responded to it and we never meet up). Joan comes in for a moment and fixes herself something to drink and takes it back to the church where she is working. Loranell comes in and visits me for a few minutes, sitting at the table and sharing her plans about belly-dancing, etc., and the book tracking she does for next door; It is all manual. I call Jack and make plans for dinner at Main Street Cafe with him for Wednesday night. I communicate via facebook messages with Kit and Normandi to plan Thursday's visits to Lexington and Frankfort to meet them. After a while Beth C. comes in and says hello. We talk about writing and it looks like she is a lot happier working for the Berea Citizen than where she worked before. Jack stops by to solidify our dinner plans and he talks a while. I wonder if he will bring some other folks to have dinner with us.

I finally decide to see the campus so I walk across the street to see the Fee Glade, taking pictures, and some familiar spots around the library and other buildings. I step into the library and visit with Julia for a minute and then Susan, too, before they head home for the day. I make it back to my car before the rain comes down too much. I went to Robie & Robie books and looked along their bookshelves for a while thinking I might get a book or two, but I never found anything that I couldn't live without.  Plus, I was looking for a copy of Chinaberry; I will probably have to order a copy online.  The rain didn't last very long and I drove around town a bit longer before deciding that I would go visit the three places where I lived in Berea: (1) The little red brick duplex leased to me by the college for a year and a half, and this was my favorite humble home and I had several little parties and friends and memories made and left behind; (2) The hole-in-a-wall apartment that was directly across from the railroad tracks, but that was soon forgotten when the fleas hatched in the walls and my poor cats were harassed with these little buggers, never mind the bathroom shower-only drain twice flooding the apartment floors with kitchen-sink sewage; (3) The townhouse apartment where I made the chakra collages, where I began learning the banjo, where I was introduced to bourbon, where I sat on the back porch with a friend listening to him talk about poets, where I began writing Rise When the Rooster Crows.  I took pictures of two of the former homes; The last place had its doors open with new people moving into it during my visit to Berea this year.

1st home: Sweet Memories

2nd home: Dreadful Days

Loranell's Electric VW Van

I find Robert on facebook; We plan to meet at the coffee shop, so I return there and meet Nick for a while. He tells me about his new apartment, his train ride out West, all his friends moving away, and again about his super cool vintage apartment. Nine rolls around on the clock and I move my perch to the table on the front patio and wait for Robert to arrive. Just when I was about to give up and he rolls up in a borrowed red truck. We sat outside until about 10:30pm talking and catching up on all the new things going on in his life. But I was tired by 10:30 and finally said goodnight, but not before Loranell finished up closing next door and drove her electric van around the corner.  It is the quietest moving vehicle I've seen yet... 

I drove all the way back to Phoebe's, in the dark, worried about a wrong turn or awkward dip in the road. I got home, looked to the sky, and found a map of stars, unfolded and revealing. I should've stayed and stared but instead I packed up my laptop, camera, and bottles of water for returning inside Phoebe's gypsy home. So upon entering Phoebe woke and told me about her day at work, being yelled at, leaving early in tears, coming home to read and nap and try to get rid of a headache. And we talked about differences between how the town looks and her and another ostracized female in the community, the town's response to their actions and decisions and what that meant for the women and for the community. Bubbles broken. We began to settle down for bed; I'd already switched to the PJ pants when a knock came on the door as it was being opened. Brian came in. So Phoebe comes out, face incredulous, and they talk for a while on the back porch. I finally go to sleep.

Danforth Chapel, Berea College campus

Danforth Hall, Berea College campus

Hutchins Library, Berea College campus

Boone Tavern & Inn, Berea, Kentucky

Monday, July 4, 2011

Good morning, Harley!

Monday, we slept in a while, sat around talking, and Phoebe's friend Brian stopped by. I could tell right away I didn't care much for him -- He didn't seem entirely there and when she asked him a question it was like he wanted to control how much of the information he wanted to share with her, which was frustrating to her because she can tell he was withholding info she requested to know. He left after a while, but not before I'd stepped into the shower. Afterwards I looked around the property, snapping pics of the mountains, the backyard, her little front porch, Harley walking, Harley sitting, Harley looking at me... It was a misty morning and there was a morning haze across the rolling hills in the distance.

hot and cold

We got cleaned up, and decided it was time for coffee, but being as it was a major holiday, the local coffee shops would be closed.  So we drove to Richmond to Starbucks. I went for hot, Phoebe went for cold, and Screamin' Jay Hawkins was singing through the radio, "I Put A Spell on You."  Caffeinated, I felt a ton better, but overall I was still a little sick from the long road-worn trip.
"I love you anyhow, And I don’t care, If you don’t want me, I’m yours right now. You hear me, I put a spell on you, Because you’re mine" - Screamin' Jay Hawkins, "I Put a Spell on You"
After we got back to the house, we went for a walk down the road, and met the neighbors' alpacas and a llama. The alpacas were the cutest little creatures, but ol' Harley dog was protective and wanted to bark them away.  I took pictures nonetheless. There was also a grey horse on the other side of the fence, a pretty sight for a camera lens. The knobs were a dark green against a bright and sunny sky, and I took just too many pictures to remember by....

squash, corn hole toss, and burgers

After a while it was finally time to head into town to meet Brian, Bill, Tiffany, Jimmy, and Crystal for a Fourth of July cookout. When we finally found the right place without much directional help from Brian, we had some beer, wine, pigs-in-blankets, pasta, and watched fireworks being shot off all around us. The city's fireworks could be seen just over the treeline, and a zealous citizen had some big ones being shot from his backyard a few houses down from the cookout. It wasn't long before Phoebe and I grew tired Jim (the 54-year-old rude man who proudly proclaimed he was rude and thus obviously thought it was a favorable attractive trait to women). Phoebe had brought her poi, and with a little friendly coaxing, some of her friends persuaded her to do a little fire dancing. I took some pictures, and didn't get a chance to record any of it.

Berea Fireworks

Phoebe said we should go to Lesa's house because Bev would be there soon, so off in the car we went across town to a sprawling neighborhood. Here we find cobalt blue bottles, a pretty little white dog named Piper, and, well, something I can't talk about. I finally convince Phoebe that she needs to eat; She'd drank some wine at the cookout, but I never saw her eat. So Lesa feeds to four of us: Wheat thins, smoked turkey and roast beef, cheese, guacamole, and sherbert. Phoebe fire dances again so that the citronella fuel is used up.

Phoebe, fire dancer

And then Brian appears again and we leave to head home. I'm annoyed at him; He drives very close behind me all the way back to the house, and though it is unnecessary, he comes in and stands around. He only needed to pull back out of the driveway, waving, to see that we got safely home. So he stands and watches us get settled into the house, and he smokes a cigarette on the back porch with Phoebe. He leaves, finally, and we go to sleep, me on the couch under a quilt with the air conditioner unit cooling the room quickly, her into her room full of clothes hanging on the walls, in the closets, dresser, and growing mountains.

The Reneaus - Logs and Specks

I was minding my own business, driving along on the Wendell H. Ford Western Kentucky Parkway from Elizabethtown, past Central City, and toward Eddyville. I stopped in Princeton for some fresh air and some antique store window shopping, but the day was growing long and I still had several hours on the road to go before reaching Memphis. I managed to tune in to WKU Public Radio and caught the Barren River Breakdown radio program, starting with the Hazel Dickens song "A Few Old Memories" -- which was appropriate for my train of thought at the time -- and I just stayed with the station as it progressed through Town Mountain, Israel Nash Gripka, and The Reneaus, among others. This Bowling Green band struck me and I'm compelled to share this video. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did while watching rolling hills fade into corn fields and then crossing bridges over rivers and lakes in the western Kentucky landscape. Also, BRB does have a Facebook fanpage and may return to posting setlists of the program in their Notes, so be sure to "like" them.

Music: Something, Somewhere, Sometime

"Something, Somewhere, Sometime", Dear Companion - Ben Sollee & Daniel Martin Moore

The first song on this CD, "Something, Somewhere, Sometime" rocks my mornings as I drive in to work, along with the title track. It is energizing, has a strong beat, and the lyrics are insistent and drive the song home. This is my new favorite album.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Music: Oz

Back in December 2010, before Christmas, I went to a house concert where this guy Oz Davidson was opening for the evening's main act. Oz is half of a band called Lands Bejeweled, but he certainly sounded great all on his own this evening. I haven't yet been to a concert for the band itself, so I can't judge entirely, but have a go at some videos I recorded from the house concert and see for yourself. Talented guy.

Click here for a playlist of 5 videos or just watch the one linked here:

Samantha

It seems that as each new year strolls by I become more and more interested and absorbed by the musical culture around me. I have gone from listening to country and classic rock on the radio, Dolly Parton eight-track tapes, Michael Jackson vinyl records, U2 cassette tapes, and endless CDs of artists like REM, Gillian Welch, Tom Waits, Bob Dylan... Now I listen more locally to musicians who perform live concerts at bars and in homes, more intimate instances of songwriting joy and performance sincerity. I love the house concert concept and this is now where I learn first about new songwriters from singers I know and appreciate already.

Here are two videos I recorded and edited of Samantha Crain at a house concert. She is accompanied by Daniel Foulks who is an exceptional fiddler and a pleasure to listen to how he complimented Samantha's well-loved songs. The second video includes clips from the 2010 winter solstice lunar eclipse and Christmas lit-trees along Western Avenue in Oklahoma City. Enjoy!





Samantha Crain with Daniel Foulks performs "Devils in Boston" and "Songs in the Night" at a Blue Moon House Concert on December 17, 2010, in Oklahoma City. Video recorded and edited by Laura Anne Heller of Blue Athena Productions.
Visit Blue Moon House Concerts on the web:
http://bluemoonhouseconcerts.moonfruit.com
Visit Samantha Crain on the web:
http://www.samanthacrain.com

Stories, Tales, Secrets...

I made three mixed CDs for a friend and named them "Stories", "Tales", and "Secrets."  Here's the list of songs and artists I chose to share.  Many of these singer-songwriters I have met and heard in person, some because they live and work in Oklahoma City, while others have traveled here for a gig at a venue or a house concert.  I also wanted to share the recent artistic creations I have been working on, so I gave each CD a cover, and I'll have that same image accompany the playlists below...

"Song I Gave to the Sparrow"

Stories
1. "For the Morning" - Camille Harp
2. "Babylon" - Justin Witte One Man Band
3. "We Are the Same" - Samantha Crain
4. "Salem" - Penny Hill
5. "Everybody Knows" - Kelly B. Band
6. "Cheyanna" - Mike Beck & The Bohemian Saints
7. "Land & Sea" - Rebecca Loebe
8. "Little Birdie" - Michael Huff
9. "The Dam Song" - Samantha Crain
10. "Goodbye Blues" - Easton Stagger Phillips
11. "Don't Hurt My Heart" - Mike Beck & The Bohemian Saints
12. "South" - Camille Harp
13. "California" - Rebecca Loebe
14. "Untitled #3" - Ali Harter
15. "Rising Sun" - Samantha Crain
16. "Be Kind to You" - Forest Sun
17. "All the Pretty Girls Leave Town" - Tim Easton
18. "It's Okay to Be Alone" - Elam Blackman
19. "Keep on Going" - Michael Huff
20. "The Weeping Willow" - Devon Sproule

"Nest"

Tales
1. "This Too Shall Pass" - Danny Schmidt
2. "Dancer" - Jared Tyler
3. "Blackwing Butterfly" - Noelle Hampton
4. "Soul Parade" - Jesse DeNatale
5. "Better Nobody" - Kelly B. Band
6. "Siren" - Rebecca Loebe
7. "Song for John" - Penny Hill
8. "She Run Away" - Mike Beck & the Bohemian Saints
9. "I Would" - Ali Harter
10. "Fortune Teller" - Michael Huff
11. "Scissor Tales" - Samantha Crain
12. "Your Chances Are High" - Camille Harp
13. "Angel on the Floor" - Elam Blackman
14. "Lonely Spires" - Rachel Ries
15. "Working My Angels Overtime" - Justin Witte One Man Band
16. "Life of a Buckaroo" - Mike Beck & the Bohemian Saints
17. "The Wind" - Penny Hill
18. "Band of Angels" - Kelly B. Band
19. "Too Far Off" - Michael Huff
20. "Collapsible Plans (Sugar)" - Tom Freund

"Black Crow"

Secrets 
1. "The River" - Samantha Crain
2. "Flowering Spade" - Sean Hayes
3. "When I Go" - Brett Dennen
4. "Spaces In Between" - Shane Alexander
5. "Happy Ending" - Matt the Electrician
6. "Blues Man" - Michael Huff
7. "Forms of the Truth" - Beth Waters
8. "Strangers" - Kris Delmhorst
9. "Ragdoll" - Gavin Glass & the Holy Shakers
10. "Tribute to Taj Mahal: Cakewalk Into Town" - Justin Witte One Man Band
11. "Santa Fe" - Samantha Crain
12. "Houston" - The Bittersweets
13. "Southern Smile" - Four Year Bender
14. "Meridian" - Rebecca Loebe
15. "Other Hearts" - Michael Huff
16. "Reflecting Light" - Sam Phillips*

I included "Reflecting Light" just because I was completely absorbed in the song while working on these and I thought it appropriate to close with it.

dream a highway back to you

There's some people I miss and love with a highway heart.   This song in some ways sums my feelings, but it is the refrain that evidences that I keep circling back to face the feelings I always carry.

I think the guy who made this video shortened the song by cutting out some choruses, but that's okay.  I kept them in place in the lyrics posted after the video.   Take a little Gillian Welch with your meandering mountain drive.



I Dream A Highway - Gillian Welch

Oh I dream a highway back to you love
A winding ribbon with a band of gold
A silver vision come and rest my soul
I dream a highway back to you

John he's kicking out the footlights
The Grand Ole Opry's got a brand new band
Lord, let me die with a hammer in my hand
I dream a highway back to you.

I think I'll move down into Memphis
And thank the hatchet man who forked my tongue
I lie and wait until the wagons come
And dream a highway back to you.

The getaway kicking up cinders
An empty wagon full of rattling bones
Moon in the mirror on a three-hour jones,
I dream a highway back to you.

Oh I dream a highway back to you, love
A winding ribbon with a band of gold
A silver vison come arrest my soul
I dream a highway back to you.

Which lover are you, Jack of Diamonds?
Now you be Emmylou and I'll be Gram
I send a letter, don't know who I am
I dream a highway back to you.

I'm an indisguisable shade of twilight
Any second now I'm gonna turn myself on
In the blue display of the cool cathode ray
I dream a highway back to you.

I wish you knew me, Jack of Diamonds
Fire-riding, wheeling when I lead em up
Drank whisky with my water, sugar in my tea
My sails in rags with the staggers and the jags
I dream a highway back to you.

Oh I dream a highway back to you, love
A winding ribbon with a band of gold
A silver vision come molest my soul
I dream a highway back to you.

Now give me some of what you're having
I'll take you as a viper into my head
A knife into my bed, arsenic when I'm fed
I dream a highway back to you.

Hang overhead from all directions
Radiation from the porcelain light
Blind and blistered by the morning white
I dream a highway back to you.

Sunday morning at the diner
Hollywood trembles on the verge of tears
I watched the waitress for a thousand years
Saw a wheel within a wheel, heard a call within a call
I dreamed a highway back to you.

Oh I dream a highway back to you, love
A winding ribbon with a band of gold
A silver vision come molest my soul
I dream a highway back to you.

Step into the light, poor Lazarus
Don't lie alone behind the window shade
Let me see the mark death made
I dream a highway back to you.
I dream a highway back to you.

What will sustain us through the winter?
Where did last year's lessons go?
Walk me out into the rain and snow
I dream a highway back to you.

Oh I dream a highway back to you, love
A winding ribbon with a band of gold
A silver vision come and bless my soul
I dream a highway back to you
I dream a highway back to you

Oh I dream a highway back to you, love
A winding ribbon with a band of gold
A silver vision come and bless my soul
I dream a highway back to you.

feeling good

So... which version do you like best?

Nina Simone - Feeling Good



Michael Bublé - Feeling Good



Muse - Feeling Good



George Michael - Feeling Good





I prefer Nina Simone's recording.

house concert

I went to my first house concert of the year down at a friend's in Oklahoma City.  A lovely house with open doors, beautiful art, an inviting backyard, and an intimate setting to sit and listen to some good music sung right there to you and fellow music lovers.  Last night's concert was Brine Webb and Samantha Crain.

I'd heard Samantha play at the Conservatory just a week ago for Ali Harter's CD Release Party.  I hadn't heard Brine Webb before, and I sure was glad to get a peek at some of his songs last night!  His style has a little melancholy lilt that meanders through a meadow, a forest path, a city street at dusk.  I managed to get there in time to hear about 5 or 6 of his songs, including a lullaby.  I became entranced at his finger-picking style for "The Ghost Family" song, one had said he's written a long time ago.  Check out an interview with him by Sophie Zine and don't miss this video and this video, both from his song "Cigarette Tree."

Brine Webb, House Concert, OKC, OK, March 26, 2010

Samantha Crain played some of her well-known tunes and also some new songs, opening up her last set with "Lions" and closing with "Scissor Tales."  She has an openness to the audience, joking about brown and pink-red koozies and how they were ordered with a real customer service rep named Gregg.  Her song lyrics are full of emotion and no matter how many times she has sung the song, it still sounds poignant with fresh feelings and stories.  I think of sunny days with big fluffy clouds drifting along and midnight walks under constellations and meteor showers when I hear Sam's songs.  Check out some videos on youtube.

Samantha Crain, House Concert, OKC, OK, March 26, 2010

Having seen Samantha with a backing band and now flying solo for a small audience, I'm appreciative of the house concert venue.  I missed the first hour because I got lost (as usual) in downtown Oklahoma City looking for the main mail sorting post office to drop off some bills; By the way, that post office doesn't have a mail drop after hours.  So I was finally relieved to get to the Feuerborn house for the concert of the night.  Such a warm setting, potluck, a little wine and beer, and of course, plenty of other people who appreciate good music.  What a wonderful way to spend a Friday evening.

red dirt music

Last night's Concert at the Cowboy was a pretty good success and I managed to get quite a few snappy photos of Brandon Jackson while he performed under the End of the Trail sculpture.  I also recorded one of his songs, so take a peek at this Red Dirt musician from Stillwater, Oklahoma.  By the way, he is recording an album in May, so be on the lookout for one hot off the press this Summer.