Some days are better than others. And when I find myself with my patience thinning (way too frequently as I get older, it seems), I always think of the chorus of this John Prine song…

You can gaze out the window get mad and get madder,
throw your hands in the air, say “What does it matter?”
but it don’t do no good to get angry,
so help me I know

The sage advice of John Prine. What good does it really do to raise your voice? To pound your fist? To yell an expletive that your neighbors can probably hear from the street? With reality slapping you in the face every day – bills, a family to support, short tempered kids (where’d they get THAT from?), stupid drivers – well, it’s hard not to lose your cool.

And when I feel it coming on, I always try to take myself to this John Prine song..

For a heart stained in anger grows weak and grows bitter.
You become your own prisoner as you watch yourself sit there
wrapped up in a trap of your very own
chain of sorrow.

Stop. Take a deep breath. Put everything into perspective. And don’t sweat the small stuff.
Stay cool, peeps.

John Prine – Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow) [mp3]

From Bruised Orange

Take a look at this 1980 Soundstage special, with John driving around his hometown in Illinois, telling the story behind the song…

Country Rock, Folk john prine

What an amazing day. All of the majesty, symbolism, and History behind today’s inauguration of Barack Obama was nothing short of breathtaking. Thanks to ABCNews.com, I was able to catch the Oath and the speech at work. It’s a very large corporation, with layers of security, firewalls, web filtering software and the like, so I was happy to see that at least one web site’s streaming video of the ceremony was working.

I must say though, I wasn’t impressed that: a) there was no acknowledgment by the company, no communication to its thousands upon thousands of employees, that addressed the magnitude and significance of the day.; and b) there was absolutely no enthusiasm, chatter – no nothin’ – from my co-workers. Sure, the economy sucks, everyone has a job to do, work work work, focus focus focus, blah blah. But to go the entire day at work with no one (around me, at least) even opening their mouth to talk about this historic day? Well, I was a little disheartened and disappointed. I figured my enthusiasm for the day would be matched at least by some people. Maybe they were out there, but they sure weren’t verbal about it.

But let my rant end there, and let me sum up by saying how refreshing it will be to wake up tomorrow with President Obama at the helm. I’m proud of my country, and I have the utmost confidence that this President will be a great leader through these very tough times.

Old Crow Medicine Show – I Hear Them All (mp3)

Did anyone see Old Crow Medicine Show on Austin City Limits recently? Great set, and prompted me to dig out some of their stuff. This song is fitting for the moment, in my opinion.

I hear leaders quit their lying
I hear babies quit their crying.
I hear soldiers quit their dying, one and all.

I hear them all
I hear them all
I hear them all

Buy:

Bluegrass, Folk Obama, Old Crow Medicine Show

The Olympic Symphonium – More in Sorrow Than in Anger (Forward Music Group, 2008)

What is it about the great white north that fosters such beautiful, introspective and intimate music?  I suppose that I could make some crack about folks being locked up in their cabins for months on end, but in reality it’s more attributed to the fact that the Canadian government actually provides funding for the arts. Regardless, there is an abundance of wonderful music coming from our neighbors to the north and my most recent find is The Olympic Symphonium.

The trio of singer/songwriters share vocal duties with a roster of guest musicians filling in the blanks. Contemplative and complex the 10 tracks on More in Sorrow Than in Anger range from pop tinged twangy folk to heartfelt dirge. Where this record truly shines is when it’s pared down to the trio such as on “Malleable” where the intimacy abounds to the point where you can hear birds chirping in the background, the creak of a chair and the slight harmonic overtones of the guitar.

This is a perfect Sunday morning (or snowy afternoon) record. It stood up to many back to back repeat listens and did not for a moment lose its charm. Take a listen to the sunny “Intentions Alone” for a view into More in Sorrow Than in Anger.

The Olympic Symphonium – Intentions Alone (mp3)

Buy More in Sorrow Than in Anger: Amazon | iTunes

Links: Official Site | on Last.fm | on MySpace

Folk, Indie The Olympic Symphonium

Everything about this song is just.. right. The cadence of Greg’s delivery. The lyrics. The electric guitar. The way the drums and the first line of the song introduce themselves together.

I think I need to buy all of Greg Brown’s albums, hop in the car, and drive around for a few weeks.

Greg Brown – Blue Car (mp3)

Folk, Roots Rock greg brown

Boy, does this song hit me juust in the right place on so many levels. Greg’s low-down baritone narrative, and the purely American imagery his lyrics evoke, make me close my eyes, sit back, and just listen. The detailed vignettes he weaves together in this song are wildly entertaining, funny, thought provoking, and not without a hint of bittersweet sadness.

This song is about traveling this great country, and the freedom and independence a person can find in the outdoors. A song about fly fishing. A song about overcoming “the blandification of our whole situation.” A song about how “sometime you gottta go not look for nothin’.”

It’s a song that’s about going away from civilization and rediscovering this world, reminding yourself that when all the ugliness of mankind is stripped away, it’s a staggeringly beautiful world we live in.

It’s a song that makes me want to go back to the mountains of southwest Colorado and go fly fishing with my dad.

Greg Brown – Eugene (mp3)

Buy

Folk greg brown

I have all of my ACL photos uploaded. Check ‘em out here.

Day by day recaps coming soon.

Folk, Miscellaneous ACL

When I was in high school, I listened to a lot of chick singers. I would lay on my bedroom floor and listen to Tori Amos, Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Sarah McClachlan, Suzanne Vega, Liz Phair and others and while writing terrible short stories about my angsty teenaged life. The chick singer phase continued into college, though to a much lesser extent (well, except for Tori, which I’m sure I’ll end up telling you about at some point).

One night after work about 10 years ago, I picked up a 3-disc compilation that Rolling Stone put out called The Rolling Stone Women in Rock Collection. On disc 2 of that set I discovered a song I’d never heard before, but loved immediately, “At Seventeen” by Janis Ian. Outside of that song, however, I never really bothered to seek out any other music by her.

(photo: janisian.com)

A couple of months ago, I was browsing around eMusic and I noticed that Janis’s Stars album was recommended for me. I took a listen and liked what I heard, so I downloaded it and a couple of others and enjoyed everything. It kind of baffled me that I hadn’t discovered her back in high school during my chick singer days. I guess better late than never, right?

Earlier this week, I attended a book signing for her recently-released autobiography, Society’s Child. She spoke for about 30 minutes, telling some stories from the book, did a 30-minute Q&A (I was actually quite proud that not a single stupid question was asked, which is never the norm when I attend Q&A’s), then did the signing. She was very nice and gracious and seemed genuinely happy to talk to her fans. Getting to meet artists in such a low-key, relaxed atmosphere is always a good thing, and I’m glad I went. I recommend you pick up her book and the accompanying CD she just released. And, of course, go see her if she’s going to be in a city near you.

Janis Ian – Society’s Child (mp3)

Janis Ian – At Seventeen (mp3)

Janis Ian – Stars (mp3)

Folk, Rock n' Folk

It’s through my old friend Mark that I discovered the music of Townes Van Zandt a dozen years ago, and through Steve Earle that I’ve learned more about Townes the man. I don’t think I’ve seen a Steve show where he doesn’t take 5 minutes to tell you about his close friend and mentor.

‘Be Here to Love Me’ is a 100 minute film about the life of Townes Van Zandt. Thanks to Snag Films, you can watch the entire film online for free. Thanks to Heather at Fuel/Friends for making me aware…

Folk, Video

For fellow Steve fans, NPR has a podcast of Steve’s set at the Newport Folk Festival available for free.

Get it from their site, or download from iTunes.

While you’re there, grab Jim James’s set, and Tom Waits’s entire Atlanta show. Free.
Thank you NPR.

Folk newport, Steve Earle

Non-parents may want to move on to the next post, ’cause this one’s a little ch-ch-cheesy.

I’ll make it short & sweet – my four year old daughter attended her first day of kindergarten today. I’m a proud papa, and I’m sort of blown away that I have a child who is now going to school. Seasoned parents are nodding their heads, while at the same time shaking them in a sort of “you have nooo idea what you have in store for you” way. It just keeps getting more and more interesting, folks, and I’m just underway…

Well, a couple of weeks ago, my girl had a sort of “graduation” ceremony at her YMCA preschool. Her class was referred to as the Sea Horses. As the Sea Horses shuffled through in a controlled-chaos single file to receive their cute little certificates, with their cute little caps on, I had this Bruce Cockburn song going through my head. It comes from a brilliant 1976 album called In the Falling Dark.

I count this and Dancing in the Dragon’s Jaw as two of my all time favorites. They soothe and calm me, and bring me to a good place when things seem a little jagged and confused.

The lyrics merit an appearance here (bolded by me):

Little seahorse
Swimming in a primal sea
Heartbeat like a
Leaf quaking in the breeze
I feel magic as coyote
In the middle of the moon-wild night

In the forge-fire time
Your mother glowed so bright
You were like a
Voice calling in the night
And I’m watching the curtain
Rising on a whole new set of dreams

The world is waiting
Like a Lake Superior gale
A locomotive
Racing along the rail.
It’ll sweep you away
But you know that you’re never alone

Little seahorse
Floating on a primal tide
Quickening like a
Spark in a haystack side
I already love you
And I don’t even know who you are

Nice eh? It’s enough to make a tough dad get a tad misty eyed. And that’s okay. Congrats kiddo – I have no earthly idea how I ever got along without you.

Bruce Cockburn – Little Sea Horse (mp3)

Buy In the Falling Dark

To illustrate even further how much I love this album, here’s my favorite off the record:

Lord of the Starfields (mp3)

Acoustic, Folk, Laid Back