Friday, June 11, 2010

Homegrown Radio 6/11/10


Friday is upon us, which means it’s time for another edition of Homegrown Radio—this month featuring Earl Butter! Let’s not shilly shally; here’s what Earl has to say about today’s two songs:

Library Lady and Eve, I believe are actually the same song, but written one step down from each other keywise. Eve, I think is the odd man out of this batch, in that I believe it is from a lyric idea I had laying around for awhile, and then one day picked up the guitar and decided I was going to "put it down" before I lost the little scrap of paper it was written on. It also keys in on my wonderful voice and the magic that I can do with it by stretching out a note and wiggling it around. It really is a great gift and I really am wonderful.

Library Lady really IS unwritten and spontaneous, and really was sung to (kind of at) my cat. I get very anxious before every class I teach, and well, this day I remembered that we were having a guest come in and boom, as I am Earl Butter, I made it into art. It really is just a chorus, or an intro or something. But notice how wonderful the harmony is. Wow. Way to go Earl Butter!

Both of these have added verses and stuff to them, and will someday be recorded in full. But I think they stand alone the way they are and the way they began, as beautiful spontaneous and incredible and amazing little bursts of songcraftingism.

Hope you enjoy them!

Eve



Library Lady


Thursday, June 10, 2010

Musical Snafus #1


Some friends have been telling me: “You need to tell more stories on the blog!” Ah yes, but one is always casting about for material, & when you’re producing daily posts as we do here at Robert Frost’s Banjo, it’s easy to fall into various patterns—not to say ruts!

Of course the best stories often involve some sort of snafu; that’s been a theme in my Country Living posts. But recently it occurred to me that the life Eberle & I have spent over the past dozen years as amateur & semi-professional musicians has certainly had its share of snafus that were maddening & occasionally scary at the time but funny in retrospect. So I started compiling lists of all the various screw-ups & mishaps I could recall.

It was striking in compiling the list how often the actual printed music & music stands cropped
up as a source of consternation; & when I think about these, I’m even happier than ever that in my current performing incarnation, there’s no printed music to worry about. Don’t get me wrong—I’m very happy to be able to read music. But as an item to worry about in performance—no thanks.

The Alice in Wonder Band, the band Eberle & I were in from 2001-2004 was, however, a “reading band.” We didn’t necessarily have all our arrangements written out note-for-note (tho we did have some of these); we also played from what are called “lead sheets,” which have the bare melody & chord names, which a musician uses to “fake” his/her lead or accompaniment parts—in other words, re-interpreting the information.

Nonetheless, we were tethered pretty firmly to our music stands—which brings me to the Alice in Wonder Band’s first stage show ever, outdoors at the McCall Folk Festival held in Roseberry in July of 2002. Roseberry is in Long Valley, a stretch of mostly level farm & pastureland around a mile in elevation in neighboring Valley County. In fact, that may have been the first year the Festival was held in Roseberry after years in McCall itself.

The Alice in Wonder Band was going to be the lead off act of several that evening. As we loaded in our instruments, the sky began to look more & more menacing—angry gray clouds piled atop one another & a wind began whistling thru the area. There were the usual sound check headaches—particularly, as I recall, involving my bass (I was playing electric guitar, electric bass & banjo at that time)—but eventually things were squared away.

I don’t remember the song order, but I believe our first song may have been the old hot jazz tune, “Jazz-Me Blues.” At any rate, there we were, lined up to play this up-tempo number—for
which Eberle had written a wonderful—but very exacting—arrangement. It's also significant to know that the arrangement was several pages long, & so it wasn't practical to hold the pages down with clothespins or other clips. Meanwhile, the wind was whipping & howling; I believe there were scattered raindrops. Our precious music notebooks were perched precariously on the music stands!

The song kicked off & the wind picked up. I don’t remember the exact sequence of events, but at
one point I noticed that the pages of our oboe player’s book were turning rapidly & randomly in the wind—I remember asking myself what I would do if that happened—which of course it did—& soon, pages, books & finally music stands themselves were all doing a most uncooperative & madcap dance—pages flapping, books closing, stands tipping over. The amazing thing is we didn’t have an actual “train wreck”—in other words, the song never screeched to a crashing halt. Thru some rather miraculous chance, it turned out that not more than one or at most two books were going haywire at a time—which left four people to take up the slack.

We made it thru the set. “Jazz Me-Blues” was the worst of it. As fate would have it, the squall passed as soon as we were done & the next band was taking the stage; the rest of the evening was calm & lovely.

Next Thursday: “Weebles Wobble & They Do Fall Down.”

Top Pic: The Alice in Wonder Band at Roseberry 2002 - not during "The Jazz-Me-Blues!"
2nd Pic: Turning the Page
Bottom Pic: "The Jazz-Me-Blues" line-up!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

On The Road Again


Yes, indeed, folks—yours truly will be hitting the road again tomorrow morning, tho not on any cross-country odyssey such as in March. Instead I’ll be headed west thru the deserts & mountains of Oregon & Nevada & on to the Golden State for a whirlwind visit to Baghdad by the Bay, or The City, as San Franciscans modestly call it.

I’ll only be in town Thursday evening & Friday, & then Robert Frost’s Banjo’s own Chicken Farmer Poet, L.E. Leone, will head back with me to Idaho, where she’ll visit with Eberle & me over the weekend & early next week. We’re all jazzed about this!

Posts are scheduled for tomorrow & Friday—tomorrow’s post will involve a bit of story-telling in the musical vein, while Friday will be the second installment of Homegrown Radio with Earl Butter (who I hope to see in person on Thursday or Friday). I don’t have anything scheduled for Saturday—I know I won’t be joining Sepia Saturday this week, as my schedule precludes it. I might or might not post something on the fly Friday night or Saturday morning. Stay tuned! However, I won’t be able to respond to comments as much as usual for the next few days.

That’s all folks!

Pic shows an installation at the Thunder Mountain Battle Monument near Imlay, Nevada

Adams County Makes the News - Council Leader #13

The Council Leader
Published Every Thursday by the Council Publishing Company
Fred Mullin, Editor


October 10, 1912
ADAMS COUNTY AND COUNCIL

On March 15, 1911, Washington County was divided and the new county of Adams was created. A number thought we should have a new county because we had the wealth and the territory to warrant it, and by making a county would get the credit for whatever of progress and prosperity that came our way, and which would be an advertisement that would bring new settlers into our county. The latter view has proven correct, for the population has almost, if not quite, doubled in the new county, new industries have sprung up on every hand, and an era of substantial development is upon us, with good prospects of becoming one of the richest and best counties in Idaho. Its versatile resources of mining, lumbering, horticulture, farming and stock-raising give Adams an advantage over many of the other counties in the state.

Within a radius of fifteen miles of Council, three-fourths of the population of the county reside; within a radius of ten miles of Council, more than half the votes of the county will be cast; within a radius of 12 and a half miles of Council there are 3,000 acres of orchards worth at least $500 per acre, to say nothing of the new orchards that will be set out within the next three to five years. It will take an army of people to care for the trees and handle the crops, which will always keep Council in the center of an ever-increasing population.

The town of Council is the present county seat and is a live, growing place. It has good streets, cement sidewalks, proper drainage, good churches and schools, and ample hotel accommodations. All lines of trade are represented and large stocks of goods are carried in the four big general merchandise stores, which have carried many people over misfortunes and hard times when money was scarce. Then we have a number of up-to-date exclusive stores, such as hardware, furniture, feed and grain, confections, notions, fuel, lumber yards, box factory, repair shops, livery and feed stable, and as good physicians as there are in the state.

Exceptionally good wagon roads, for this western country, lead from Council to every section of the county that is populated, by the most direct accessible route. From the Meadows valley, Council can be easily reached by rail. The train coming down in the morning and back at night gives those people an opportunity to transact business in the county seat and get back home the same day. The above are a few reasons why Council should remain the county seat of Adams County.

LOCAL ITEMS, 1912

Sure death to smut. Just received a fresh supply of blue vitriol and formaldehyde at Cool’s.

I have the only public bathtub in town. Your patronage respectfully solicited. Frank Weaver.

Fresh oyster stews at Billie Browns.

See my new line of children’s hats before buying elsewhere. Iola DeGaris.

Remember I am the only Licensed Weigher in Adams County and my scales are absolutely correct. Fred Cool.

Married— January 20th, at the Congregational parsonage in Council, Will Wilkerson of Salubria and Miss Mary Ricksecker of Indian Valley. Both parties are well and favorably known in the valley, the groom having been born and raised in our sister valley and the bride being prominent in the social life of the valley the past two years. While the happy event was a surprise to all their friends in this part of the country, all join in wishing them a happy and prosperous journey through life.

A.J. Anderson, W.E. Henke, A.J. Francis, J.I. Linder, A.E. Bailey, Thos. Hutchison and Frank Murphy attended the meeting of the anti-Council League at New Meadows, January 16th.

On Monday, January 22nd, the home of John Hutchison was burned to the ground. Only a small part of the contents was saved. This is a heavy loss to Mr. Hutchison, as he has a large family, and had their winter provisions stored in the house, none of which was saved. The origin of the fire is not known, but is supposed to be a defective flue. There was no insurance so far as we have heard.

At the state fair at Boise last week, Adams County won 73 premiums, mostly on fruit. So far we have been unable to get a list of the winners, but we hope to have it for publication next week. Indian Valley won second sweepstakes on dry farm products.

Our people were surprised Tuesday night to learn that Fred Cool, the popular feed store man, had developed a sudden and severe case of appendicitis. Mr. Cool was taken to the Weiser hospital on the morning train Wednesday accompanied by Mrs. Cool and Dr. Martin. Word received from Weiser Wednesday evening stated that an operation had been successfully performed and we all hope for his speedy recovery and return.

“Dr. Stork” visited our valley again last week and left a 10 pound girl at the home of Clyde Steward. He was accompanied by Dr. Schmidt of Cambridge.

Remember the Carnival at the Eagle opera house tomorrow. A good chance to buy Christmas presents and at the same time visit with friends.


Nels Hanson was in Saturday and requested us to say that he did not file complaint against Walter Schroff and his wife as stated in the Leader two weeks ago.

August 22, 1912
ONE ON THE DOCTOR

A good joke on Dr. Gillespie leaked out this morning. He was hunting grouse east of town yesterday and flushed a bird which flew into town. The doctor thought it alighted on the hill north of Dr. Brown’s residence and took a long tramp after it. When he came to the home of his brother-in-law, he asked Mrs. Ransopher if she had seen the grouse. She had. The bird had flown into her woodshed where she caught it and had it in a box. We will not try to express Dr. Gillespie’s feelings, but the Ransophers had chicken for supper.

November 13, 1912
A CIRCULAR LETTER

To the Citizens of Council and vicinity:
A political campaign, honestly financed and conducted, may be productive of good. It is inspiring. It is educative. It tends to provoke thought. The late campaign was a complex one. Local issues made it a vitally interesting one to us as citizens of Council and vicinity. But the campaign of 1912 is over. Election day is past. Wilson is to be our next president, Haynes the new governor of our state, and Council the permanent county seat of Adams County. The last named result of the election is very satisfactory to us all. Other results may not be as satisfactory to more or less of us, but they’re beyond our power to change for the present. To be grumbling and grouty will only make matters worse. Let us settle down and make the best of it for nation, state, and county.

The Great Architect who built the earth has piled up many grand hills and mountains and dug out many beautiful valleys. We are living in one of those beautiful valleys. Let us see to it that our city is a sane and safe place. When fathers and husbands and brothers come to Council on business, may those at home not fear their return crazed with drink or penniless through gambling, or tainted by vice of any kind. Let us keep our city free from standing temptations to vice and sin—a place where it is comparatively easy for men and women to be good.

Our churches are meant to be standing invitations to good living and good citizenship. Now that political excitement has subsided and the season of greater leisure is approaching, we, the undersigned, pastors of the churches of Council would urge upon you a broader and deeper interest in our work. As pastors of the churches in Council, our business is to get men and women to live right before God and with their fellows. We ourselves desire so to live before you that you will not be ashamed to own us as ministers of the gospel and pastors of the churches in Council.

Yours for what is high and good,
E.I. Getman
H.C. Stover


Tuesday, June 8, 2010

"Winter Marriage"

[Another beautiful lyric poem from B.N. - enjoy!]

Winter Marriage


Consider, how consistently the light gets less
in the rim of the window, then the room,
the way we grow quiet each night at 8 o'clock.
It has been a winter of arguments, broken clocks
and black-outs. We aptly call these silence and darkness.

Given enough time I can make sense of anything,
our tracks in the snow, the snow filling the forgotten
boots next to the back stairs, the clay pots
on the sill, the TV and our heads
in R.E.M. sleep.

I know that the geese, afraid to be overcome by snow travel
In a constant V and sound a hard call back and forth, knowing
both their shape and sound as imperative.
Sense has a pattern like snow and sleep
or silence and darkness.
                              And here we are the power concealed in it.

B.N.
© to the author 1983-2010

Monday, June 7, 2010

FEMINIST HULK SMASH!!!



What do Marvel Comics & feminist theorist Judith Butler have in common? Quite a bit if you're one of the 11,641 (& counting) who follow Twitter phenomenon Feminist Hulk! If you’re not aware of the Feminist Hulk, you should most definitely check out our own SoCal Special Correspondent, Audrey Bilger over at the Ms. Magazine Blog where she presides these days—her post today is an exclusive interview with Feminist Hulk!

Smash patriarchal hegemony—oh my!

"The Gone Dead Train"


It’s time for another edition of the Monday Morning Blues, & today’s featured song is a wild romp even by the standards of old blues. It’s called “The Gone Dead Train,” & it originated with a singer-guitar player who went by the name of King Solomon Hill.

It’s thought that King Solomon Hill was one Joe Holmes, who was born in Mississippi in 1897 & lived much of his life in Louisiana in the Minden area, & specifically in a place called King Solomon Hill Baptist Church. Holmes recorded six songs during his lifetime, tho there are no known copies of two of them. The four that survive are “The Gone Dead Train,” “Whoopee Blues,” “Down On My Bended Knee” & “Tell Me Baby.” A small output, but at his best he was a guitarist & singer with uncanny power & range. He did play slide style—reportedly using a steakbone as a slide—& from what evidence we have in his four surviving songs, he played a spare & highly individual guitar style. King Solomon Hill was apparently was a friend of the great Blind Lemon Jefferson, & like Blind Lemon was probably a street musician.

As per usual, the song is my version, not an imitation; for one thing, King Solomon Hill had an amazing falsetto, which I don’t possess. One of the riffs I use came from his song “Whoopee Blues”—a truly disturbing song about vengeance, but one that contains some interesting guitar work. “The Gone Dead Train,” on the other hand, is a hobo’s story about displacement & alienation & the inherent dangers of a life riding the blinds on freight trains.

Hope you enjoy it!