Ryan Montbleau "Yeah Man"

I've gone through this incredible life change.

I had no idea unhappy I was, until just recently.  But then I was introduced to some ideas, some life concepts that really opened my eyes.

I've never been one who's been open to motivational speakers or self-help gurus or any of that.  But this guy is different.

And if you take just a minute to hear his word, his message, I think your life will be transformed, too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVQVaGnxvSQ




Okay, okay, just kidding.  But I think this would be a fun prank for you to play on your friends.  I'm guessing you can do a better job than I can.  Send the link in an email with a note that lays it on thick, telling your friends that you've gone through some radical changes---increased wealth!  massive weight loss! dating a supermodel!---and tell that that the key to your success is in the motivational video in the link.

Good for a harmless bit of fun . . .


Hear the song on Youtube.

Trombone Shorty "Do To Me"

It's amazing how much math comes up in the process of picking songs for mvyradio.

I'm not saying there is a hard, fast equation for picking music.

And honestly, the values placed on things are sometime a bit arbitrary.

But I did do a little bit of calculating, when trying to decide if we should play the new Trombone Shorty single.

Troy Smith is an Amazing horn player and he's a great composer.

Plus. Plus.

He's only an adequate singer. And I've got a stack of CDs featuring great vocalists in the "considering" pile.

Minus.

The lyrics are written by Ryan Montbleau.

Plus.

The R&B groove he lays down isn't in-the-pocket mvyradio. But we do usually make room for a little bit of that flavor, on a playlist that otherwise needs to favor straightforward singer-songwriters to stay true to the station's heritage sound.

Slight minus, slight plus.

Peeking around the country, many different radio stations are playing this track. So it's working. People are responding.

Plus.

Trombone Shorty is Amazing and there is always incentive to support true, quality artists.

Plus.

Advantage: new Trombone Shorty, on mvyradio!


Hear the song on Youtube.

M Ward "Never Had Nobody Like You"

We think a lot about musicians and their world surrounding shows. But what about when the shows are over?

I can imagine that life on the road puts you in some weird situations.

I know it did for M Ward. And that the weirdoes were we . . .

Newport Folk was over. Darkness had come to Fort Adams.

I was standing in the Quad, the grassy area within the walls of Fort Adams, where the mvyradio broadcast center was. Most of the mvy staff was long gone. The Quad stage was empty, dark. The hospitality tent was empty, dark. There were a few random crew people walking too and fro, but mostly everyone was gone.

Barbara and Jess had just said goodbye. Jess, still adrenalized from the day's excitement, was headed to The Newport Blues Cafe, where Ryan Montbleau was playing, and where Deer Tick and Friends would be playing later. Barbara, who'd given her all to her many, many interviews, was headed back to our owner's house, for some food and a glass of something to relax with.

Joe, mvyradio's owner, and I were the only ones left. We'd pulled the last of our wires and cables and connections and such from our tent, and were loading them into his Tahoe.

"I'm going to run out front to say goodbye to the NPR folks, and then we're out of here." I was happy for that. In my younger days, I would have been off with Jess. But in my more prudent 40s, I was ready to head to the house and raise a quiet toast with Barbara.

So there I stood in the dark, drinking a beer, when someone who'd been crossing the Quad, changed his course and approached me.

"Are you guys, by chance, heading toward downtown, and if so, can I catch a ride?"

"Yeah! We're leaving in a minute. Hop in!"

"Do you know where the, um, Blues Cafe is? I'm supposed to play with some friends there."

"Really? That's where I'M headed!" I said, much to my own surprise.

"I'm Matt."

"Yeah, I know," I smiled. "Hey Joe," who'd just returned, "This is M Ward. Can you drop us in town?"

So here's M Ward, somehow left behind on the grounds of a venue he just played, in a town he's not familiar with, in the dark, and he's left to figure out how to rejoin his friends, so he hops in a car with 2 strangers.

I'm sure he's been in this situation before. In fact, I bet he finds himself in this kind of situation more often than you or I. He seemed to know how to handle it.

He made small talk. Asked us our names and what we did. Joe gave him a detailed explanation of how we had fitted the whole of Fort Adams for wireless broadcasting, and Matt dropped in several, appropriately timed, "Oh wow"s.

He asked where I grew up, and when I said the North Shore of Massachusetts, he guessed Newburyport. Turns out he lived for a while in Newmarket, NH. We had a conversation about The Stone Church there, leading the conversation to where I really wanted it to go---his music.

I started grilling him about his upcoming projects, and he referred to "this other group I'm in" (yeah, that would be She & Him) and how they just finished a Christmas album. And he's working on a new solo record.

While all this is going on, I'm texting Jess, ("We're driving M Ward to town!"; "Bring him to me!" she replied) and he's texting his manager.

"My friends are at a restaurant near the club. Do you think you could get me near there? I don't mind to walk."

While all this conversation and texting is going on, Joe, a longtime Newport resident, is channeling his inner cab driver, trying to avoid the traffic clogging the post-Festival streets.

Matt has his GPS working on his phone, saying, "I think you can go down this street . . ."

"We don't want to go down that street. That's going to be a nightmare," instead banging a hard left and racing down a narrow Newport alley.

It was a little bit of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride for a few minutes, but after another alley (so thin that we were up on the curb for a moment), and a cut through a parking lot, we suddenly popped out right next to the restaurant.

I told Matt that I looked forward to seeing him play later and he thanked us kindly for the ride.

Joe then dropped me off at Newport Blues where I regaled Jess and Julie and Ryan and Jason Spooner (where did he come from?!) and anyone else I knew, with my tale of riding with M Ward.

Meanwhile, M Ward was somewhere with his manager in a Newport restaurant, no doubt not talking about his ride, as it was just another ride in another town after another show as part of a life on the road.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Fleetwood Mac "Songbird"

This is a funny one to think about doing the Freaky Friday Switcheroo, because I think it probably only goes in one direction . . .

I just can't wrap my brain around Christine McVie, in all her polite English seriousness, letting loose on a reggae number like Montbleau's "Songbird."

She could probably play it. The Brits have an affinity for reggae. She could probably do justice to the groove on her keyboard. But putting on the Jamaican accent? No. F-N. Way. I just don't think she could do it.

I mean, she's great at what she does (see "You Make Loving Fun"), but even when she's having "Fun," it feels pretty a bit, restricted.

On the other hand, while it's not necessarily something he would sing, Fleetwood Mac's "Songbird" is something that Ryan Montbleau could do, and do well. For the exact reason the McVie couldn't do the opposite.

When Christine McVie recorded her "Songbird" they set her up in an empty concert hall, and covered her piano in flowers, to put things in the right mood for her performance.

Can you imagine Montbleau in that scenario?

No.

But because he is loose enough and free enough and self-effacing enough, he can take on virtually any kind of song and do well.

I don't know if he plays the piano, but he's got a great piano player in his bandmto lead him through this. Or better, he could pick it simply on his guitar.

It'll work, based on sincerity, without the self-seriousness.


See the video on Youtube.


See the video on Youtube.

For other Incredible Imaginary Freaky Friday Cover Tune Switcheroos see all the posts from this week.

Ryan Montbleau "Eggs"

An Egg song for Easter!

I saw Ryan at The Narrows back in March, and at one point he asked the audience to choose the next song, and this fan favorite won the shouting match.

Happy Easter!


Easter, eggs and Ryan Montbleau---they're for the kids!

See the video on Youtube.

Ryan Montbleau Band "Resolution"

I say: "Merry Christmas! Here's a special gift I picked out just for you!"

My internal monologue: "Please don't notice that I'm regifting. Please don't notice that I'm regifting. Please don't notice that I'm regifting."

So from my blog to you, please enjoy this free MP3!

(Did you notice that it's actually a free MP3 courtesy of the generous Ryan Montbleau? He's the one who deserves the thank you note)

Alejandro Escovedo “Faith”

It’s not wrong to assert that it’s who you know.

Who you know doesn’t give you talent. And it doesn’t give you drive. And it doesn’t give you commitment. But if you are firing on all artistic cylinders, having some connections can help propel your work into space, and/or put you in orbit with some interesting stars.

So if you’re a musician about to sign with a manager, it doesn’t hurt to look at their roster of other clients.

Brett Dennen got to work with African guitar idol Femi Kuti on “Make You Crazy,” because the artists share a manager.

Ryan Montbleau’s manager let him know that another client of his, New Orleans hero Trombone Shorty, was looking to collaborate with a sure-footed songwriter. A couple of Montbleau-penned tracks are on Shorty’s new record.

And even if the client list is short, sometimes it’s still pretty helpful.

Jon Landau is know for his one big, Big, BIG client: Bruce Springsteen.

So when Landau took on established-but-underappreciated artist Alejandro Escovedo as a client, well, it was only natural that Bruce give a little lift off to the gifted songwriter.

After inviting Escovedo to perform a song with the E Street Band during a Texas concert, which was release on a live EP, Bruce joined Alejandro in the studio to play the unusual (but increasingly less unusual as he ages) role of backing player, singing harmony on this track called “Faith.”

It’s good to have friends. It’s even better to have friends who have friends who are rock stars.



Awesome Fan-shot video

Rodrigo Y Gabriela "Tamacun"

When to love an aritst, you want so badly to share them with people you think will love them as much as you do. But it's hard, sometimes, to win people over.

I went to see Rodrigo Y Gabriela (with Ryan Montbleau as the opener) at the Opera House in Boston last night, and I brought my friend Dana.

He's a huge music fan, and a very open mind when it comes to discovering new things.

I think it's can be really hard for certain people, to go to a concert where they don't know the artists, or a single song, and really get something out of the experience.

But I felt good, two songs into the night.

After blazing through "Hanuman" and another track from the album "11:11" that had a dead-stop ending, there was a slight pause.

And before the music started up, before the audience started clapping, from the darkness beside me, I heard a little:

"Heh heh."

A small, spontaneous bit of laughter.

When the next song ended, Dana let out a "Whooooo!"

By the middle of the show, he was full out clapping and laughing and smiling and shouting.

"They're unbelievable."

He left the show a fan, ready to check out their records.

They were awesome, and I felt like I had successfully shared. Victory!





If you're on the Vineyard, Ryan Montbleau is playing at Nectars on Saturday, 8/28!

John Prine “Angel From Montgomery” Pt. 2

Five behind-the-scenes scenes at Newport Folk.

And a memory can build upon itself, over and over.

Last week I wrote about “Angel From Montgomery” and the memories inside of memories it holds.

And seeing John Prine this weekend, that story just continued to telescope out.

I was running around in our backstage area, uploading pictures, checking audio, on the phone with the station---just doing what I do, when I heard Prine start this song.

I didn’t want to miss it, but I didn’t have time to go all the way around to the front of the stage and watch the show. So I made a little beeline from our setup, in the interior courtyard of the Fort, to a room inside the Fort, that overlooks the stage from behind.

Literally, you can see John Prine’s back, 50 feet away. Over his shoulder is the crowd of thousands, and behind them, Newport Harbor and The Bridge.

“The best seat in the house,” said Barbara, who had materialized beside me.

She’d been doing her thing, and had the same notion, at the same time, as I.

Barbara commented on how great it sounded, this slowed down version of Prine’s tune. It really got to the heart of the song.

A nice shared moment with BD.

Later that night, we were back at Joe’s house. Saturday night at the festival, we have a late barbecue (after packing up for the day, it’s usually after 10pm before we get to dinner) and we rehash the day.

Musician Ryan Montbleau, who dates Jess, was with us for dinner, and of course we goaded him into bringing his guitar out.

After a few songs, he passed the guitar off to Barbara, and yes, the crowd insisted that she sing “Angel From Montgomery.”

Barbara tried to deflect the request, saying that there was no way she could do the song, after hearing Prine’s perfect version earlier that day. It just wouldn’t be right.

But the crowd would not be denied.

And yes, Barbara did an amazing version of the song. Some friends of friends were in the small group, and at the end of the night Barbara got big hugs from these former strangers, for her beautiful effort.

So now the song reminds me of Barbara singing solo on Ryan’s guitar which reminds me of watching Prine through a window in the Fort, which reminds me of Barbara singing with Kate Taylor’s Band, which reminds me of singing with friends in a farmhouse 15 years ago.

Stream the full Prine concert, or download it from our archives.

Ryan Montbleau “16 Reasons”

All Time Top Five Songs Under 90 Seconds . . .

From time to time on Every Day I Write The Blog, I do a week’s worth of my five favorite songs on theme. For the All Time Top Five rules, see this previous post.

Ryan Montbleau inspired this week's theme, with a clever little ditty that clocks in at :39 seconds, from his new live album called “Stages Volume 2.”

The tune is probably a little too sophisticated for the kiddie set, but having watched a lot of Sesame Street in the past 2 years, I can tell you, that being this solidly clever is difficult, welcome, and shouldn’t be dismissed as a trifle, despite its size.



See Ryan sing the song live on some fan footage.

Buy ”Stages Volume 2”