Robert Plant "Rainbow"

I saw Robert Plant a few years ago, and got a laugh thinking how silly some of his early Zeppelin hippie-dippy references sound (like in "Ramble On").

While it doesn't actually sound hippie-dippy or like a 60s throwback, I did have to laugh when I read that his brand new song is called "Rainbow."

You don't get much more hippie-dippy sounding than that.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Black Prairie "How Do You Ruin Me"

Let me continue my grand tradition of Newport rumor-mongering . . .

Two years ago, I incorrectly speculated that Jack White would make a surprise appearance.

Last year, I incorrectly declared that a Robert Plant sighting might be imminent. 

So this year, I am predicting a surprise reunion of The Decemberists!

You may or may not know that Black Prairie includes several members of The Decemberists.  They are on the bill for Sunday.

And Decemberists' lead singer Colin Meloy is scheduled to perform on Saturday.

It's notable that both acts are not booked to play anywhere else, in the days before or after their Folk Festival gig.  Meaning, they are free to come a day early/stay a day late, so their can be crossover.

Decemberists reunion!  Listen this weekend!  Because it's probably not happening!

Black Prairie and Colin Meloy perform this weekend at the Newport Folk Festival.  For artist previews and mvyradio's Newport Folk Channel, visit the mvyradio Bloggers page.  And hear full coverage of the Festival, with live sets from the stage, on mvyradio.com.



Hear the song on Youtube.

Patty Griffin "Ohio"

I was watching the new Patty Griffin video for "Ohio" which features Robert Plant, and was thinking back to seeing Plant two years ago.

It was the first time I had noticed how dang sexy Patty Griffin can be.

Now that we know they're a couple, it's funny to think back on that and realize that Robert Plant was probably thinking the same thing . . .

Hear more from Patty Griffin tonight, as we play "American Kid" as the mvyradio Album Of The Week.


Hear the song on Youtube.

She & Him "Never Wanted Your Love"

Aaaaaannnnnnd . . . right on cue . . .

Last week I was struggling with that first-quarter-of-the-year issue of having lots of great songs, but few familiar voices to keep a good mvy-like balance to our playlist.

While we had plenty of holes in the playlist to fill, I resisted the urge to load it up with unfamiliar voices, knowing that I would be rewarded with patience.

No sooner had a reported my playlist to the trades on Monday morning (including new Adds from fairly familiar voices JJ Grey and Billy Bragg), then we received:

a)  A "for your ears only" private link to hear Lori McKenna's new album in full, which will be here in a few weeks

b)  Patty Griffin's first new single in 5 years, "Ohio," featuring Robert Plant.

c)  The new She & Him track from the forthcoming "Volume 3"

Playlist problem solved.  Balance restored.



Hear the song on Youtube.

Led Zeppelin "Stairway To Heaven"

It's starts very, very slowly, quiet and small, taking quite a bit of time to get going.

Everything about it seems to have deep, deep meaning, though you have no idea what that could possibly be.

Ugh, the middle goes on and on forever, and you really does feel like it could never end.

Then, all of the sudden it speeds up toward the end, which is both exciting and totally throws you off-balance, to the point where your not sure at all what the hell is happening, what you are feeling or what you are supposed to do.

And then it ends, as quietly as it arrived, leaving you to figure out what the hell to do next.

(Maybe you are the same) I went through a long period where I just didn't want to associate with it, but now, looking back, I have fond nostalgia for it.

Am I talking about High School or "Stairway To Heaven"?

My 25th high school reunion is on Friday.  I don't know who the DJ is (not me!), but they should probably play "Stairway," as it was our prom song.

How did we think that was a good idea?  Is there a worse song to dance to?  Sure it starts slowly enough, but what the hell do you do when Plant gets to the "As we wind on down the road" part?  Do you continue to slow dance with your partner, pretending that the tune has not turned into a rock song so you can hold onto those precious last moments where you are pressing your body against a member of the opposite sex?  Or do you give it up and do your "Rock Out!" dance?  ("Freaks And Geeks" explored the same issue with "Sail Away")

I haven't listened to "Stairway To Heaven" in years, but I felt like I should for this post.  And I think I'm finally past the hump of the song being a totally burned-out cliche.  I actually enjoyed it again.  Yeah, some of the lyrics are very hippie-dippy, but it's a helluva song.  I can even put up with the flute.

I kind of feel the same way about high school.  I had no desire to revisit the awkward teenage years for my 5th, 10th or 20th reunion---I steered far clear.

But my view of the long, long, seemed-like-they-would-never-end years (that still somehow managed to end abruptly, dumping me fully into another chapter of life), has softened considerably.

So I'll be in Newburyport on Friday, and hopefully I'll enjoy the trip back to a certain, somewhat cliched place and time, as much as I enjoyed revisiting "Stairway."

But if the DJ plays it, I'll be sure to sit that dance out.


Hear the song on Youtube.


See the "Freaks And Geeks" scene on Youtube.

Patty Griffin "I Smell A Rat"

Let the rumor-mongering continue!

It began earlier this week, when Robert Plant was talking to a journalist and said "I eloped and ran off to Texas."

His publicist later explained that Plant was just being "Cheeky" and was not actually married to singer-songwriter Patty Griffin.

If you've ever watched an unedited interview Plant, you know that he is hilarious, often wry, sometime deadpan, sometimes dry.  I'm sure the "eloped" quote was funny in the moment, but reads much more seriously than he meant it.

Okay, so he's not married to Patty Griffin.

But it does seem like the part about them being a couple is true.

Note that Griffin is on the bill for Newport Folk.

Shall we put 2 and 2 together and have it add up to unsubstantiated hysteria?

If you know anything about Robert Plant, you perhaps know that he is deeply interested in American Roots music, but has (to my knowledge) never appeared at the legendary Newport Folk Festival.

Do I smell a surprise appearance?

Or do I just smell a Jack-White-Is-Coming-To-Newport rat?


Hear the song on Youtube.

AC/DC "Jailbreak"

Here's how it went:  I would slip silently through the halls, doing my best to remain invisible.  I'd appear in her doorway, looking for sanctuary.  She would grab a loose piece of paper, from somewhere within her reach.  It might be from a roll.  It might be newsprint.  It might be a corner ripped off some instructions.  In pencil, she'd quickly scrawl an unintelligible line and say, "Come right back."

I'd present the piece of paper.  Which again, could be a tiny corner, or a sheet the size of a full newspaper.  Either way, her signature was only took up two inches of real estate.

"What is this?" the Study Hall teacher would ask.

"Mrs. Laganas says I can come to the Art Room for Study Hall."

"Can't she use a permission slip like everyone else?" the Study Hall teacher would ask, rhetorically.

This piece of paper didn't just grant me access to the Art Room.  Equally importantly, it granted me freedom from Study Hall.

Depending on who the Study Hall teacher was, Study Hall at my school was either a detention-like 45 minutes held in complete silence, or, perhaps worse, it was a kind of unrestricted social time, where the goal was to just basically keep the kids corralled for the period.  The latter was actually harder for me, as a teen, because I was horribly uncomfortable in all but the most familiar social situations.  I was fine among my few best friends.  But having to make conversation with anyone beyond that was an excruciating experience during my teenage years (which, if you've only known me as an adult who's profession is public speaking, you must find hilariously ironic).

So any opportunity to avoid social scrutiny, was welcome.

And Mrs. Laganas was welcoming.

If you had a free period, and she liked you well enough (ie. she knew that you weren't going to show that permission slip to your Study Hall teacher, then go to McDonalds), she'd let you come hang out in the Art Room.

So I went there at every free opportunity, found a corner to work in, and put my head into a drawing.  If Mrs. Laganas had a big class in session, she'd let me hide in the supply closet and do my work.

Sometimes, she'd have projects/assignments for me.  Perspective.  Figure drawing.  Oil painting.

But most of the time, I was on my own, drawing.

"You have an eye," she used to say.

I could draw.  Actually, I could illustrate.  I had this natural ability to look at a photograph or picture, and draw it exactly.

I wasn't all that imaginative.  I didn't paint from my mind.  I didn't even really draw from real life.

I drew album covers.  And Rolling Stone magazine pictures.  And Sports Illustrated photos.  Athletes and Rock Stars and Models and such.

For 45 minutes my head would be down near the table, my eyes darting back and forth between the photo and the white piece of paper.  And when the period ended, I'd pop my work back in the magazine, and head off to the next class.

At home that night, I'd be back in the Art Room---this time, my bedroom---head back in the picture, AC/DC on the boombox (which was, ridiculously, set at the absolute lowest setting possible so as not to alert anyone that I was still awake at this late hour, drawing when I should be in bed).

I'd be in a world where I drew the lines and I didn't have to say a word to anyone.

It was a sanctuary and a coping mechanism that got me though the long awkward stretch of youth.


Postscript:  How cool is it that I married an Art Teacher?  And that my house is about to become an Art Room?  My friend Mike Palmer (with minimal help from me) spent last weekend renovating our garage, to make a studio space, and my wife is offering day camps for kids and evening classes for adults, right out of The Art Shed (the site is live, but not finished . . .).


Hear the song on Youtube.

Kathleen Edwards "Change The Sheets"

It's always thrilling, and/or nerve-wracking when news of two artists with distinctive, realized sounds, decide to collaborate.

Like, remember when you heard about Robert Plant and Alison Krauss working together?

Did you, like me, say, "Well what the heck is that going to sound like?"

Previously, both artists had developed an instantly recognizable sound. And those two styles seemed to have nothing in common.

But it all worked out, didn't it.

I saw Robert Plant in concert last winter, and Kathleen Edwards was there. Edwards, like Plant, is on Boston's own Rounder Records, so she was in town to check in with her label folks, as she worked on a new record.

She told us that her new record was being produced by Justin Vernon of Bon Iver.

And I thought, "Wow, what is that going to sound like."

Some words I associate with Bon Iver: Wintry, plaintive, lush

Some words I associate with Kathleen Edwards: Direct, profane, rootsy

I was having a hard time in my head, mixing the two.

Would the new Edwards record, smother her emotional and lyrical directness in atmosphere? (Beautiful, beautiful atmosphere)

I'm glad to hear the fruits of this collaboration did nothing to round out Edwards' edges. "Change The Sheets" is still showcases songwriting that cuts through. And the production does bear the mark of Vernon, by being full and warm, drawing a natural line to Edwards' rootsy side.

Peanut butter and chocolate. Not chalk and cheese.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Led Zeppelin "Over The Hills And Far Away"

If you were to ever hear stories about the biggest Rock song of the 90s, "Smells Like Teen Spirit," invariably, the name of The Pixies is invoked.

Kurt Cobain said it himself:

"I was basically trying to rip off the Pixies. I have to admit it."

The Pixies cool trick of quiet chorus, loud verse became a popular motif for Nirvana, in songs like "Come As You Are" and "Heart Shaped Box." And the connection reinvigorated an interest in The Pixies, who'd long since broken up.

But I always wondered, What about Led Zeppelin?

The quiet/loud dynamic wasn't exclusive to The Pixies (though it was deployed quite expertly by them). There had been other bands who used it.

What about Led Zeppelin?

Kurt Cobain? A suburban West Coast teen growing up in the 80s? He HAD to be a Zeppelin fan.

Maybe at that time it wasn't cool to admit you liked classic rockers Led Zeppelin if you were in the 90s Punk Rock/Seattle scene.

But when I hear "Over The Hills And Far Away" I think, Kurt Cobain had to have had this song in him, at least in his subconscious, when he wrote his songs, right?



I got my answer, in part, with the Nirvana Boxed Set "With The Lights Out" which contains these Zeppelin covers.

Robert Plant "Nobody's Fault But Mine"

Here's a clearinghouse of thoughts on seeing Robert Plant in concert last week. None of these notes merit a full on posting, but all are worth a mention.

I'd kinda forgotten that Plant can play a pretty mean harmonica, which he did in his capacity as a back-up musician, when a Band Of Joy-er got took the spotlight.

Plant gave Buddy Miller, Darrell Scott and Patty Griffin each a chance to front the band, while he stepped into the shadows, taking on the role of back up singer. How the hell did Patty Griffin not spend her whole tune thinking, "Robert Plant is my freaking back-up singer!!!" (Maybe she did)

Neither Buddy Miller nor Darrell Scott look like those incredible voices could be coming out of their mouths. They're both kinda rugged-looking, but their voices are both clear and clean.

I wasn't surprised that, if he were going to play a few Zeppelin tunes, "Ramble On" was among them. But did I detect a slight note of embarrassment when the 60-something singer delivered a line written by his 20-something self that was lifted from---how hippie-ish!---Lord Of The Rings? "Gollum, the evil one, crept up and slipped away with her . . ."

While I could go on and on about how beautiful Patty Griffin's voice is (my friend John said, "If God was real, he'd have Patty Griffin's voice"), I don't know that I'd have ever described her as "sexy." Until I saw her shaking maracas and singing back up to "Nobody's Fault But Mine."

Speaking of Patty's singing, her many roles on this tour were interesting. She can simply be a back up singer, providing a fuller, higher compliment to Plant. She can fulfill the Alison Krauss/female counterpart role on "Raising Sand" songs like "Please Read The Letter." Or she can be a substitute Plant, tackling the waaay-high notes that Plant sang near the end of the recorded version of "Gallows Pole."

Not that the House Of Blues is small, but it must be one of the smallest venues Plant has played in many years. When he was touring with "Raising Sand," they were in much larger places.

Boston was the first stop of Led Zeppelin's first trip to America, over 40 years ago. Patty Griffin and Darrell Scott both played around town for years. And Buddy Miller and drummer Marco Giovino have family in Boston. Bassist Byron House must've felt left out. Especially when Plant introduced everyone in the band, but forgot him!

We were invited to an After Party, and Mr. Plant was there to Meet & Greet. After hanging out for a half-hour or so, waiting my turn, I realized that though I love him, I really didn't have anything I wanted to say to Robert Plant. So rather than stammer something stupid, we left.

The show-opening "Nobody's Fault But Mine"


"Angel Dance"


"Ramble On"


"Rock N Roll"

Robert Plant "Angel Dance"

Last night's Robert Plant show at The House Of Blues in Boston probably merits a few different posts. But the thing that stands out to me, in the immediate aftermath, is The Band Of Joy.

Unlike a few of his contemporaries, Robert Plant has steadfastly refused to act like he's still a cocky 20-something. I knew this going into the show, and wondered, If he's not going to prance and pose a la the concert film "Song Remains The Same," how will he command the stage? How will his presence manifest itself?

It was through the power of The Band Of Joy.

Drummer Marco Giovino's kit was set to the back of the stage (as drummers usually are) and the rest of the band created a kind of square on stage. Guitarist Buddy Miller was at the front of the stage to Plant's right, bass player Byron House was set behind Miller. Patty Griffin was at the front of the stage to Plant's left, and multi-instrumentalist Darrell Scott was set behind her.

And Plant stood in the middle of this four-square style set up.

When the band was really cooking through an instrumental section of a song, they'd all turn inward toward Plant, and I swear it was like they were focusing light through a prism.

And when they all turned back to their microphones, each to lend their voice as a back-up singer, like the "Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!"s during "Angel Dance," I half expected Plant to be levitated off the stage.

Aging frontmen should take this lesson: the right chemistry can produce half the smoke but all of the burn.


(the stage plot is slightly different in this video than last night, but you get the picture)

Rockpile "Little Sister"

After a week's worth of posts about early MTV videos, I did some research, and found a list of all the videos played on the first day of broadcast. There were a few things I'd never heard of, several things I'm happy to never hear again, and a couple of gems I was excited to revisit, like this live nugget.

Sharon Little "Follow That Sound"

Does celebrity endorsement mean something to you? I'd like to say it doesn't mean anything to me, but I've got evidence against me.

Sharon Little's first single off her record "Perfect Time For A Breakdown" rotated on my "Songs mvy is thinking about adding to rotation" playlist for a few weeks, and it's not that I didn't like it, but it didn't move me either, and there were lots of other songs that did, so I passed.

Sharon hit the road with Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, and when her few select dates were up, they asked her to keep touring with them. Folks from the station, and listeners too, reported back from the tour to say that she was stellar.

So when the second single came, I took a harder look at Sharon Little. Did I LOVE "Follow That Sound"? I liked it. I thought we could be friends. But I wasn't going to marry it.

But Robert Plant liked it. And Alison Krauss liked it. Who am I to contradict their judgement?

So mvy played it. And damn, they were right. I hear that song on the air and think, What was my problem? Why didn't I hear this?

Hear Sharon Little’s “Follow That Sound”