Ray LaMontagne "Forever My Friend"

"That's not cool," Ray Lamontagne said to my wife . . .


We worked extra-hard, preparing for our wedding (which was 8 years ago, this week).

We had decided early on that we would personalize as much as possible.

That meant that we wrote the entire ceremony ourselves.  My wife's brother got a certification from the Governor to officiate.  We had friends sings.  We designed the invitations and programs and Save-the-date cards ourselves, and printed them on our home computer.

Party favors?  Well of course, those were CDs.  With a playlist created by us.  With a cover designed by us.  With all 100+ CDs burned by us.

Painstaking care went into this playlist (as it did into all of the above).  We were quite proud of it.


At Newport Folk 2005, my wife and I were strikingly calm for folks just a few weeks away from getting married.  I was working for MVY at the Festival.  She came and helped out at the MVY tent.

She was particularly excited to see, and meet, Ray Lamontagne.

His debut album "Trouble" had come out a year earlier, and he was playing the Festival.

After his set, she made sure to get in line at the autograph tent for a chance to meet him.

Now, I wasn't there, but this is how she says the conversation went:

"I love your album," my wife said to Ray LaMontagne.

"Thanks," said Ray LaMontagne, shyly.

"And I love the song 'Forever My Friend.'  I'm getting married this month, and we put it on a CD of our favorite songs that we burned for 150 of our guests."

"That's not cool," Ray Lamontagne said to my wife, his mood and expression turning dark.


Upon later reflection, telling an artist that you pirated their song dozens of times is probably "not cool."

I have also learned that Ray LaMontagne has a reputation for being extremely shy, and pretty uncomfortable with any social interaction.  So the conversation my wife was expecting to have---where he applauded her decision to included his song on our mixed tape, and offered his blessings on our impending nuptials---was unlikely to ever materialize.

And when we hear that song, or bring up Ray LaMontagne, the embarrassment creeps back into her face again, she gets a little flush and she says, "I wish I didn't have to associate this song with that incident!"

But I love it this story.

Because I love the guileless way of my wife.  I love that she was so in love, and so excited for her to marry me, and so proud of what she and I were creating, that it never occurred to her that anyone would be any way other than equally as giddy about it.

Including Ray LaMontagne.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Father John Misty "Hollywood Forever Cemetary Sings"

There were lots of great sets and lots of great songs at Newport Folk 2013, but the most talked about performance was by Father John Misty.

"Why was he so angry?" I heard one woman say to another.  "It made me very, very uncomfortable."

"I loved it," said the woman next to her.  "I grew up with artists who weren't afraid to protest."

I'm not sure what FJM was protesting.  But I did enjoy how provocative he was, even when it was uncomfortable.

I spent a bunch of time on Youtube, looking to see if anyone had uploaded some of his stage banter, but I couldn't find any.  So I'm going to have to paraphrase.

First he came out by himself and dropped this hilarious line:

(Looking at his drink)  I guess this is strawberry moonshine.  It's what gay bootleggers drink.

But after a few songs, some of his commentary turned pointed.

The only reason I was invited to the Folk Festival is that I'm white.  And I have a beard.  And there's some acoustic guitar on my record.

And he had things to say about other, unnamed bands.

If you're going to put on your porkpie hat and your vintage clothes and pretend that you play Folk music, after you've made your millions of dollars I think you have a responsibility.  So say something for once in your fucking life.

(note:  these are all paraphrases, as best I can remember them)

I've already written about FJM's stage manner and moves.  He didn't disappoint.

I heard a lot of talk about these things at the show.  I even heard lots of folks say his set was amazing.

But oddly, I didn't hear people talk about the songs.  Which is too bad, because his voice, his songs and his band sounded really really good.

When when you get a performance like this, maybe that's what you have to talk about.


Hear the song on Youtube.


Hear the original version on Youtube.

Laura Veirs "Sun Song"

Add this one to the list of dorky reactions to meeting famous people.

We got the word a week or so before Newport Folk, that Laura Veirs was going to be on the scene.

She wasn't on the Festival bill, but our Record Promotion friend Jen Daunt, who's working Viers new record, let us know that Laura had a nearby gig the day before, and she wanted to come down to the festival to see some of her Portland friends like Colin Meloy and Black Prairie.

Barbara was pretty excited to interview Laura, and talk about her new record "Warp And Weft" which features Jim James, KD Lang and Neko Case.  And it's produced by her husband Tucker Martine, who has made a slew of great records for artists like The Decemberists and Tift Merritt.

I was headed back to the mvyradio backstage tent at some point during the Festival weekend, and just coming out of the tent was Barbara and Laura.  They'd just finished recording the interview, and Laura had suggested that they go over to the beer tent to get a drink and meet up with Tucker and their new baby.  They invited me along.

I'm not one to say no to free beer.  Plus, I had a camera so I could take a picture of Barbara with Laura and Tucker.

After getting a beer and locating Tucker, and some chit chat (Tucker and I talked about these particular muslin baby blankets that they had for their baby, that my wife and I also used for our kids), someone suggested taking that picture.

I pulled out my camera, and motioned for the 3 of them to get together.

"Do you want to get in the picture?" Laura asked.

I looked from side to side to see if there was someone I could ask to take our picture.  There was . . .

"I can ask Jim to take it," Laura said, motioning toward Jim.

Standing next to me, chatting with someone, was Jim James of My Morning Jacket.  His set on the main stage had ended not long before, and now he was just hanging out in the hospitality tent.

I looked at Barbara.  I looked at Laura.  I looked at Jim.  I thought about it for a second.

When I'm backstage at a concert/festival, I'm pretty conscious of the artists' space.  The whole reason they have a backstage area, is to give the artists somewhere where they can just hang out without fan-boys interrupting their meals or their conversations with friends or their quiet moments.

I won't say I never engage an artist backstage, but I try be respect the space and gauge whether they are up for an interruption or a picture or not.

But I wasn't actually going to ask Jim James if I could get a picture with him.  I was going to ask Jim James if he could take a picture of me and Barbara with his friends Laura and Tucker.

Somehow that seemed like an even weirder, more intrusive thing to do.

Really, would Jim James have minded?  He's just a regular guy.  Any time I have seen him around the grounds of Newport, he has giving off nothing but a pleasant, generous air.  He's friends with Laura and Tucker.  I'm sure it wouldn't have been a big deal.

But all these thoughts are flying through my mind in the split second between Laura saying "I can ask Jim to take it," and the time I should unfreeze my body and do something.

So I just said "Nah, that's alright."  And I snapped the photo.

Here is the picture that Jim James did not take.

Hear "Sun Song" on Youtube.

Hurray For The Riff Raff at Newport Folk

It's a little thing, but it's something you can't get from a record.

I love it when band members turn in and face each other in a circle.  Communication . . .

We have more coverage of Newport Folk coming up today.


See the snippet 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.

JD McPherson "North Side Gal"

In high school we took a class trip to Washington DC as part of a program called “Close Up.”  It was there I discovered the terrible truth about myself.

I had an accent.  A New England accent.  A strong New England accent.

One of the very smart, interesting things about the “Close Up” program, beyond showing you the sites of Washington, DC, was that they made pairs of kids share rooms with other pairs of kids who were from a decidedly different place.  The week we were there, we New Englanders were paired up with kids from California and Colorado.

Our accent became a point of discussion for the kids from elsewhere.  It was funny sounding.  Stupid sounding even.

I watched in our group discussions, as classmates who were making bright and salient points, could be dismissed for the “dumb” way they sounded, due to their accent.

I realized then and there that if I wanted a life beyond New England, if I wanted to be taken seriously, I had to tone down my thick, thick accent.

And in the ensuing years, I became hyper-conscious of the way I pronounced everything.  By the time I had graduated college, my local accent was mostly gone.

Little things did persist.  I could never get the hang of “drawer” so it didn’t sound like “draw.”  And “figures” remained “figgers” for a long time time.

But most vexing became the words that inadvertantly just made it sound like I had an accent.

A college friend pointed out that she would call it a “door handle,” because saying “knob” just sounded like a New Englander mispronouncing the word “Norb.”

Years later, I became a DJ, and much like being on TV adds 10 pounds, being on the radio has a way of amplifying your accent.

For instance, on my first day on the air, the station owner at WABN pulled me aside to help me straighten out the way I said the call letters.

“What is the first letter of our call letters?” she asked.

“W?” I answered, unsure if this were a trick question.

“Say it again.”

“Dubya,” is how I was pronouncing it.

She wrote the letter in cursive on the piece of paper.

“The letter is actually two ‘U’s put together.  It is a double-U.  Say it like that.”

To this day, it’s like fingernails on a chalkboard when I hear a professional broadcaster pronounce the letter “dubya.”  Or just really fumble any pronunciation.

And in my years in Virginia, I really had to guard against picking up that accent, as it was all around me every day.

It was easy to let words like "fire" rhyme with "car," and "pen" sound like "pin," unless you were vigilant, careful and conscious.

It's a practice I have to continue today.

Which is why I have so much trouble when I talk on the air about JD McPherson.

Initially, I just assumed you pronounced his last name “mick-FEAR-son.”  That’s a pretty common pronouncation.

But then I watched a Youtube video where he introduced himself.

He pronounces it “mick-FUR-son.”

So now when I say it on the air, I try to pronounce it, respecting his way.

But me saying “mick-FUR-son” for some reason sounds, to my ears, like it’s just me mispronouncing the guys name with a Virginia accent.

Listen to me on the air sometime.  You’ll actually hear me stumble, as the professional in me who's trying to say it right, is brawling with the kid in me, trying not to sound stupid.

JD McPherson performs 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.

Black Prairie "Song Remains The Same"

So I've been writing lots of Newport Folk Festival preview blog posts for the mvyradio bloggers page, trying to learn a little about, and write a little about every single band.

Admittedly, there are tons of bands on the bill that I am simply unfamiliar with, so writing requires a little research and listening, before banging out a few sentences and posting a few videos.

When I don't really know the band, or if the band is new/unfamiliar to the general audience, it's tempting to want to post live videos of the bands doing cover tunes, because it does create a clean, clear shorthand for what the band sounds like.

But it's also pretty lazy.  So I studiously avoid it, when possible.

That being said, when I came across this video of Black Prairie doing "The Song Remains The Same," I had to check it out.

I can't tell you if it's truly good or not.  But here's what I can tell you . . .

That opening riff, even though it is done acoustically---featuring an accordion, no less---and would not be mistaken for Page/Plant/Bonham/Jones, gave me goosebumps.

I was a huge Zeppelin fan as a kid, and hearing that riff today instantly brought forth every youthful emotion that I attached to my "Song Remains The Same" listening.

It's not one emotion per se.  More of a mix of all the things that went along with the angst and exuberance of being a teenager.

That a song can unlock this within me, still kinda surprises me, even after 1300 F-N blog posts on the subject of how a song can make you remember and feel something.

Anyway, be on the look-out next week, for some stories/posts about Newport Folk artists on this blog, and more previews on the Bloggers page.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Father John Misty "Only Son Of The Ladies Man"

Speaking of me inadvertently saying something unnecessarily stupid resulting in more work for me . . .

Somewhere along the line I thought it would be a great idea for mvy to have a "station blog."  Something that was less personally focused than this blog (or the ones Jess and Jer Bear write) and was instead dedicated to the things going on programming-wise.

Everyone thought it was a great idea.

So guess who's writing it most days . . .

But it suddenly became more than worth it, the moment I found video below.

See, I was putting together some posts to preview artists coming to Newport Folk Fest 2013, and when I got around to writing a post for Father John Misty I knew I wanted to find the video of him singing "Only Son Of The Ladies Man" when he appeared on David Letterman.

As I recalled, his performance was so sexy, if I were a woman I'd be afraid it would impregnate me.

As Youtube is wont to do, it put some interesting FJM-related links up next to the Letterman performance, and so I thought I'd check out one of the interviews.

Within the first few seconds, I nearly turned it off as you could see pretty early on that this interviewer was going to perform an ironic interview.  (Or is that an "ironic" interview?  Or should "ironic" be italicized?  I'm not detached enough to know.)  But I kept watching, because J Tillman (FJM's real name) was giving thoughtful, funny answers, while being sincere instead of ironic.

I won't say anymore, other than to implore you to watch this video, as I found myself crying laughing by the end.  All credit to the interviewer, who rolls with the interview as it spins from a contrived start to realness that's the exact opposite of ironic.

Enjoy!


(The interview is NSFW)


Hear "Only Son Of The Ladies Man" on Youtube.


Hear the hilarious interview on Youtube.

Dawes "From A Window Seat"

We saw Dawes at Newport Folk a couple of years ago.  I didn't get to see them close up, but they were playing in earshot of the mvy Command Center, where we were streaming the Festival live, and I thought they sounded really great.

Months later, when we got the single "Time Spent In Los Angeles," honestly, I thought it was a little boring sounding.  I chalked up the difference---between the concert and the recording---to the idea that maybe they were just one of those bands where seeing them live was the thing, and I wasn't going to be impressed by the record.

The second single was "A Little Bit Of Everything," and this single had more to sink your teeth into.  It still wasn't really anything (musically) that I hadn't heard before.  No new ground being broken.

But after several listens, I became impressed with this very unusual trick that songwriter Taylor Goldsmith is able to pull off.

He tells 3 stories, each about a person who has loss, trouble, doubts and hope.

No new ground being broken there.

Story about a jumper on a bridge?  It's been done.  Man who lost his son?  Newlyweds with questions?  Pretty standard stuff.

But here's what strikes me about the song.  Goldsmith manages to walk right up to a cliche, and then turn it around before it lands.  He doesn't do something as fancy as flip it on its head, or comment on it ironically.

Instead he simply states that these stories are much more complex that the cliches suggest, and that the existence of complexity in thought and daily life is a simple fact.

And this song and its stories, which seem like they could be a little pat, ring with a greater level of depth.

I was impressed with the trick.  But I didn't expect it to be repeated.

On first listen, Dawes' first single off their new record "Stories Don't End," to me, wreaked of a shortage of ideas.

A song about riding in an airplane?  And he even mentions taking about his notebook and writing a song?

And yet, after dozens of listens, I still find this song pretty intriguing, from the evocative images of the flight attendants' "dance" to the million swimming pools.

Again, he poses a number of existential questions, but doesn't do the cliche thing.

He doesn't try to answer them.

AND, he doesn't say these questions are in-answerable. 

Instead he seems to say that the answers are there, whether we choose to seek them or not.

By not putting his finger right on what he's getting at, he gives us something a little more elusive and real.

He's doing it, by not doing it.

It's a good trick.


Hear "From A Window Seat" on Youtube.


Hear "A Little Bit Of Everything" on Youtube.


Hear "Time Spent In Los Angeles" on Youtube.

Richie Havens "Freedom"

The last time I saw Richie Havens, I knew that it would probably be the last time I saw Richie Havens.

I hadn't really even had a chance to hear him perform that day.  I'd been running around the campus of the Newport Folk Festival 2010, working on the station's broadcast.

But mvyradio's tent is located in the backstage area, and just happens to be at the end point where a car and driver who might be picking up a performer, can get closest to the stage.

Richie Havens, so dynamic on the stage (see a picture), was not unlike many performers, who appear larger than life on stage, but recede some in the context of real life.

Havens was somewhat different, in that he didn't shrink in the least bit.  His presence still loomed large as he made his way to his car.  Even someone who had never seen or heard of Richie Havens could have looked at the man and simply felt him.  I'm not a fan of the word "aura," but if anyone had one, it was Richie Havens.

But while he carried tremendous power on stage and off, you could now see the frailty of his 70 year old body.  She shuffled a bit as he walked, and getting into his ride was a most ginger, gentle and even uncomfortable looking effort.

Despite his unbound spirit, his mortality was apparent.

Several of the mvyradio staff went over to the car to say goodbye.  Two years prior, Havens had played at Newport Folk and had come by the house where we stay each year, for an interview with Barbara Dacey.  (Expect to hear that interview on the air soon, or find it in our archives; see a picture)  He had made a powerful, personal connection in that meeting.

For me, my connection was made a decade earlier when I realized that his magic was that everything he sang, became a moving, spiritual hymn.

He died yesterday at the age of 72, but that spirit, that magic, that aura connected with the hearts and minds and ears of the millions he touched during his 50 year long career is not something that could be hampered or diminished by simple mortality.  He was made of something more.

Godspeed, Mr. Havens.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Jim James "A New Life"

On the Saturday night of this year's Newport Folk Festival, the mvyradio crew and some of our friends were hanging out in the house were we stay, finally getting to a meal (it was well after 10pm), and talking about our highlights for the day.

One of our station-friends asked me about My Morning Jacket.  Jim James and company was the reason he'd come to the show in the first place.  And he was a little surprised that I was not a bigger fan of the band.

In starting to explain why, I realized that I had a number of accumulated thoughts on the subject, that I hadn't really voiced before.  But they were coming out of me in a surprisingly coherent fashion.

First and foremost, I'm not crazy about Jim James voice.  I don't find it pleasing (though I don't find it intolerable either), and the effects they usually use on his voice on record, make his voice echo-ey and distant and not welcoming.

So there's a disconnect for me in how much I enjoy the band, and how much soooo many folks enjoy My Morning Jacket.  I can see why they are liked.  But I haven't been won over in the way that millions of others have been.

On the other hand, I totally get the appeal of Jim James, as a musical figure.

I have enormous respect of what he and his band are doing, and what he, as a solo artist, bring to the table.

As I've written before, My Morning Jacket could sell a ton of records and sell out big venues, by cranking out very derivative neo-Neil Young-type stuff.

But that's not the path they are taking.

Instead, they are experimenting, challenging, defying expectations.  Making music that makes you wonder, What will they do next?

What a joy to pop this new solo Jim James track in the CD player, and hear "Oh My God, he's got a Paul Simon 'Rhythm Of The Saints' thing going on!  Wait!  Now he's singing like Roy Orbison!"

I've referenced it before, but it is worth sharing again.  What has become one of my favorite movie scenes of all time, is at the conclusion of the Pixar film, "Ratatouille."  The critic, Anton Ego, gives an amazing monologue on the nature of criticism, it's possible lack of value, but it's relevance "in defense of the new."

So even if I'm not fully on board with the gospel of what millions of other James and MMJ fans believe, I am happy to ride the train as a secular supporter of the creative tracks.


Hear the song on Youtube.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Bruce Springsteen "Badlands"

I was standing at the back of the crowd as Tom Morello ended.  I was looking for my wife, who'd been texting me from somewhere up front, when I saw Sue come out of the crowd.

She, like pretty much everyone else who'd just seen his spirited set, was pretty amped up.  She gave me a big smile, said something like, "What a show!" and slapped me a high-five.

Then she said a quote that I knew I knew, but I couldn't place right away.  But knowing Sue, I was sure it was a Bruce Springsteen line.

I first spoke to Sue McDonald several years ago.  She had contacted to the station to let us know that she, along with some other Bruce Springsteen fans, were raising money for the Danny Federici Melanoma Fund.  (Federici was the longtime organ player and multi-instrumentalist in the E Street Band).  We made her the mvyradio Person Of The Week (hear it in our archives), to spread the word about the good deed she and her other Springsteen loving friends were doing in honor of the band member who'd recently passed away from cancer.

I thought of Sue again, two years ago, when my wife was approaching the due date of our second child.  We knew it was going to be a boy, and I knew that I wasn't going to be able to keep up this blog while I was out.  So I contacted Sue, and asked her if she'd like to do a Guest Blogger slot, and write about Springsteen songs featuring Fathers and Sons.  Two of the Top Five Most Viewed Posts in the history of my blog, are by Sue.

Sue and I continued to bump into each other at various shows and mvy events, including the Newport Folk Festival on a few occasions.  And because we're friends on Facebook, I kept up with her musical adventures.  It seemed like every time I saw her status, she was off to see another live concert.

So it was curious to see her post a comment on the mvyradio Facebook page, during Newport Folk 2011.  I wrote her a quick email to ask why she wasn't at Fort Adams this year.

"I'm with you in spirit, PJ! Unfortunately some medical stuff has gotten in the way . . ."

She went onto explain that she'd be diagnosed with lymphoma.  She called it "highly treatable," but she was still going to have to go through chemotherapy.  She had, in fact, had her first treatment the day before the festival, so she felt it would be wise to spend a couple of days on the couch, and enjoy the festival vicariously through mvy.

I heard from her periodically through the Fall.  She lost her hair ("Apparently I'll be rockin' the Sinead O'Connor look for a while"), but the chemo did what the doctors said it would do.  Her tumor disappeared and she began the to road to reclaiming her life, which (as best I could gather from Facebook) included getting out to as many shows as time and money would allow.

I ran into her early in the weekend at Newport Folk this year.

"I think about where I was at this time last year . . . " she said.  We let that thought hang in the air for a minute.  "I'm just glad to be here."

I saw her a couple more times over the course of the weekend, including at the Tom Morello set, as we were all running from one stage to the next.

A few days after the Festival, after I'd written about my own experience with the Morello set, I got a note from her:

You know, I was slightly embarrassed when I thought about high-fiving you on my way out of the tent after this show. I'm a pretty reserved person, after all. But, I was so energized by Tom Morello's performance, by raising a fist to "Union Town", by his guitar hero antics during Ghost of Tom Joad, by asking us to "jump the f-- up", and by his cheekiness in getting "us" on stage. It was by far my favorite set of the weekend. I'm pretty sure I told you "it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive"!

But, after reading about it, and watching it again, I'm not embarrassed, and I'm really, really happy for your wife that she got on stage. What a memory to take away from the weekend!!

-Sue

"Badlands."  She was quoting Springsteen's "Badlands."

It ain't no sin to be glad you're alive.

You're damn right, Sue.


Hear the song on Youtube.


mvyradio has Bruce Springsteen tickets for his show at Fenway.  Find out how you can win them!

Tom Morello "World Wide Rebel Songs"

My favorite moment from last week's Newport Folk Fest? Right here:

(you'll have to forgive the typos)

That's a text exchange between me (in green, on the right) and my wife (on the left), who came to the Festival on Sunday, specifically to see Tom Morello.

I had been running around Fort Adams, taking pictures and doing live breaks and such. I really don't get to hang out with my wife (or anyone). But I did try to join up with her whenever I had a few minutes.

I happened to be near the Harbor Stage when I got her text saying that Jackson Browne was on stage with Tom Morello. I got over there in time to catch them do the most rocking version of "This Land Is Your Land" you'll ever hear.

I positioned myself way in the back, middle, near the sound guy, so I could get an overview of the crowd and perhaps pick out my wife.

Little did I know, I was about to get a very clear view of the crowd.

For the finale, Morello invited the entire audience up on stage, much to the chagrin of security.

I'm not great at estimating crowd size, but I'm going to guess there were a good 100 folks on stage with Tom, singing out loud, singing out strong.

And, as you've surmised from the text, my wife was on stage too.

It was a pretty wild scene, made wilder by the fact that, while being a rebel is fun, it does sometimes create a safety hazard.  Mid-song, security and officers of the law started kicking people off stage, forcibly having to remove some of them.  It made for quite a visual.

As you can imagine, it was all captured on video.  You can see a few of the Youtube videos made by folks in the audience, and on stage.  It's totally worth your while to hear how engaging and passionate Morello is, and what delight he took in his mischief.

My wife was energized too.  Later, after we had met up and talked about her adventure, she sent me another text as I headed back into the Fort:

"I might leave you to become a revolutionary woman!"

Photos by my wife.  

Hear the original on Youtube.


See the view from the crowd on Youtube.


See the view from the stage, on Youtube.

New Multitudes "My Revolutionary Mind"

We always joke about how we do a lot with a little, at mvyradio.

This was so true last weekend at Newport Folk, where our backstage production staff---which in past years has been as many as ten people---was just me and Barbara and Jess.

That meant we all wore many hats/traded hats quite a bit.  So at any given time, I might be working as an on-air host, or a technical director communicating with the DJs back at the station, or a social media maven, connecting to the folks following online.

But the most exhilarating and moving moment of my Newport Folk weekend, was when Jess handed me the station camera and asked if I could give her a break from taking pictures.

For most of the acts, they let photographers, even the amateur ones, down to a pit area in front of the stage for the first 3 songs of any performance.  So I was right up front for the New Multitudes set.

New Multitudes is the Woody Guthrie project put together by Jay Farrar, Jim James, Anders Parker and Will Johnson---Woody's lyrics with music by the foursome.

I was intent on not missing this, as I knew it would probably be the only chance ever, to see them.  The short tour was over and it's not like they are going to make a series of albums---this was a one-off project.

Taking advice from my wife, I shot photos at a furious pace, knowing that sometimes it takes 100 shots to get 1 or 2 really memorable keepers.  But I also tried to really enjoy the fact that I was right at the front of the stage, where I could soak up the energy and the joy of this performance.  I held my ground until security gave us the boot.

From there, I retreated out from under the tent, to the side of the stage, where I spied Nora Guthrie.  She was totally focused on the performance, her head bobbing to the music, with just a slight smile on her face.

I was just so moved by this idea of a message from beyond the grave.  The band was singing songs written by her father, who had scribbled these lyrics decades ago.  He had also passed away decades ago, but here were his words, his thoughts, brought to life in 2012.

We could all only hope to have such a message from the people we've lost.  It gave me goosebumps.


Hear "Changing World" followed by "My Revolutionary Mind" on Youtube.

Charles Bradley "Heartaches And Pain"

It's 3am.  I just woke up.  I fell asleep with the kids as we put them to bed around 8pm.

I'm still not quite caught up from Newport Folk weekend.  Not caught up due to lack of sleep.  And still processing the many, many events of the weekend.

No profound thoughts here at 3am.  I just thought it was worthwhile to use today's blog post to share Charles Bradley And His Extraodinaries.

I love radio.  I love the medium and I love how it delivers the message.

But I am aware of its limitations.

We did carry some of Charles Bradley, live on the radio.

But if you don't see him, I think you lose part of the experience.

You lose the full sense of his passion, his drama, his theatricality and his enormous sense of gratitude for being able to perform.

So check out the video.  I'm going to go brush the fur off my teeth and go back to bed.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Robert Ellis "Photographs"

"Who are you excited to see?"

That's the question leading up to Newport Folk.

I'm pretty psyched that Robert Ellis is coming, after having a great experience seeing him last summer.

He's on right at the beginning of the day, so if you're coming to Fort Adams, get there early!


See the video 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.

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.

Emmylou Harris & The Civil Wars "Evangeline"

I caught the end of The Civil Wars set, when they took a moment to show some very sincere appreciation for the Newport Folk audience.

When you're a band like The Civil Wars, and your performance is all about quiet dynamics and chemistry, well, an outdoor music festival is not always conducive. Hootin' and hollerin' and folks not paying attention can often be the scene.

But folks were there to see The Civil Wars. To listen to The Civil Wars.

I'm sure that after years of playing in small venues, bars, coffee houses, etc, for less than attentive audiences, flashed before them, as they seemed to realize that they had reached a place where, when they sang, the audience paid attention.

But the real moment of joy came an hour later, as Emmylou Harris invited them to the Main Stage, to join her for "Evangeline."

I was on the side of the stage, and I could see Joy Williams sing a line, and then turn toward Emmylou Harris to watch her sing, with this look that was purely ecstatic, a look that said, "I can't believe I'm here. I can't believe I'm so lucky."

Seeing an artist appreciate their audience, appreciate that they are appreciated, and seeing them radiate it back, well that just makes me appreciate The Civil Wars even more.

You can hear The Civil Wars' set and Emmylou Harris' set in the mvyradio archives.

Hey, it's Garth Hudson's birthday, so I thought I'd post The Last Waltz version of "Evangeline." Check him out on accordion!

See the video on Youtube.

Carolina Chocolate Drops "Diddle Box"

Every summer, we cover The Newport Folk Festival live on mvyradio, as we did this past weekend. We take the Main Stage performances and air them in real time on the radio.

The question, as programmers, that we always have to ask, is "What does this sound like to the average listener?"

I mean, if you knew that mvyradio was going to be broadcasting Emmylou Harris at 6pm, and you really wanted to hear that, you'd tune in, and get what you were expecting.

But what about the people who listen to the station, who are not involved with/aware of/immersed in Newport Folk? What about the listeners who just like mvyradio and what we do. What is there experience when the tune into the station and get 45 minutes of a live performance?

Well, with familiar, straight-forward-style consensus-artists, like Amos Lee or Elvis Costello, I'm sure it only partially registers.

This issue that we worry about, are the more challenging (in relation to our usual programming) acts.

For instance, I had a few friends who had tuned in to the Gypsy Punk of Gogol Bordello, and said to me, "What was that!?"

This morning, I had to roll out of bed in Newport, and get in the car with DJ Jess Phaneuf and her boyfriend Ryan, and rush back to the ferry, so I could get to work in time to do my airshift today. Along with bringing back some of the equipment, we were transporting a stack of CDs---board mixes of the Main Stage performances.

Ryan popped in The Carolina Chocolate Drops, a band I do personally love.

But their old-time string band style, is not exactly in-the-pocket for mvyradio.

After a couple of songs, I said, "What do you think people were saying yesterday if they had just tuned into mvyradio, to get the usual mvy vibe while driving around the Island, or sitting on the beach?"

I mean, really, if you expected to tune into mvyradio because you know you're going to hear Van Morrison and Bonnie Raitt and Talking Heads and Ray Lamontagne, and instead you heard banjos and foot-stomping and twang, well . . .

"Because I'm betting those listeners were saying, 'What the fuck is this?'"

But then they introduced the 3rd song, called "Diddle Box."

We didn't really talk as we were listening, we all just kind of shook our heads. The vocal performance, the building energy, the free-style spirit, the incredible bridging of old time and scat and (did I detect some kind of Gaelic connection?) and the fully modern, totally won me over.

"What do you think those listeners are saying now?" said Ryan, knowing that the Chocolate Drops had effectively silenced any non-believers.

Here the whole set from Newport at mvyradio.com. "Diddle Box" comes in about 8 minutes into the show.

Not from Newport, but here's a video: