Vance Gilbert "Kiss My A**"

I grew up Catholic, going to church every Sunday, going through the ritual.

If you grew up Catholic, or if you've ever attended a Catholic wedding or funeral, you know what I mean when I say that, compared to many religious services a Catholic ceremony is often very rote, very sedate, formal, and often a bit monotone.

We went to what was called "The French Church" in my town. Back over 100 years ago, the Mass would be in French. This was the only differentiation I could see, from the "Immaculate Conception" which, back in the day, was attended mainly by The Irish.

But really, to a kid, Catholic Church was like McDonalds. The food roughly tasted the same, no matter where you stopped. That was both comforting, and a little boring.

The French Church had the same Pastor for many, many years, but Father Dacier had to retire eventually. Father Plourde came in, and though some of the old school folks felt he was a big shift, from my perspective, there wasn't much new.

It must have been a little boring to the "new" Priest.

Because not too long after he arrived, he gave a sermon, which he'd repeat from time to time, about how, while he was happy to be Catholic and believed it to be the true path to Heaven, he was a little envious of those Baptists who had their congregation hooting and hollering during a sermon. People spontaneous shouting out "Praise Jesus!" "Testify!" and such. He admired the passion for faith.

He'd end he sermon, and on a good day, maybe one Catholic would, speaking loudly but politely, say, "Amen."

Just as often as not, silence.

That's a long way around to get to today's point, which is that the Folk world can be an awful lot like Catholic church. A little staid, formal, introspective.

And secretly, as a devotee of folk music, I look longingly at the Rap world and their "response" songs. You got a beef with someone? You want to address the same topic from a different perspective? Write a Response (or Answer) song.

It just doesn't happen in the folk world.

But in the Youtube world, it's more prevalent than ever. Maybe that's what motivated Vance Gilbert.

So how entertaining, even if he's just screwing around, for Gilbert to write to a reaction song to the biggest (musical) viral sensation of the year, Cee Lo Green's "Fuck You."

Silly, but certainly not staid.


Tonight on mvy Live, the station features Vance Gilbert in concert, from his fall appearance at The Narrows. Tune in at 9pm.

Emmet Otter "Bar-B-Que"

So what do you do about Christmas DVDs, now that Christmas is over?

I mean, your Christmas tree may come down in a day or a week, (or in my Auntie’s case, in 4 months!), but when do you call it quits on the Christmas movies and specials?

My 3-year-old is definitely not ready to say goodbye yet. Last year we were watching “Charlie Brown Christmas” well into February.

And my wife got me a childhood favorite, “Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas” . . . but I didn’t open it until Christmas day (of course) and we didn’t have a chance to watch it until last night.

(It’s been 15 years since I’d seen it last. I didn’t remember it was so damn melancholy.)

Having watched it once, a certain little someone is most definitely going to want to see it a time or two more.

So Christmas keeps on giving in our house. And yours?

Rufus Wainwright "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?"

As much as I've complained about artists using their songs in commercials, I do appreciate that commercials can sometimes introduce an artist to an audience they'd otherwise never reach.

This 1998 Gap commercial perfectly illustrates that Rufus Wainwright is young and cool, but is really less comparable to any modern artist than he is to Frank Loesser or George Gershwin.

G Love "Fixin' To Die"

Yeah, I'm still in holiday mode. Over-stuffed, disarrayed, wiped out, "fixin' to die" (but super-grateful).

While I get back on track, here's a free mp3 from G Love. The new record is produced by The Avett Brothers!!!

XTC "Thanks For Christmas"

Thanks for a wonderful Holiday!

The Pogues "Fairytale Of New York"

"The Bells were ringing out for Christmas Day."

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)

Thurl Ravenscroft "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch"

Your Jeopardy question of the day:

Known for singing "You're A Mean One Mr Grinch," baritone Thurl Ravenscroft was also famous for voicing this animated TV pitchman.

Once you hear the voice, you'll never see the Grinch without half-expecting him to shout, "They're Grrreat!!!"

Grace Potter & The Nocturnals "Paris"

I first heard Grace Potter's "Paris (Ooh La La)" in concert several years ago. Thought it was a killer tune. If I recall correctly, the very first time I heard it, they played it somewhere in the middle of the set, introducing it as a new song. But when I saw them a few months later, "Paris" was the song they used to open the show.

So I was psyched to see that it made the track listing for their 2010 self-titled album.

Then we played it on the air . . .

It just didn't work for mvy (in my opinion). Every time I'd hear it on the air, at first I'd think, What The Hell Is This?! Then I'd remember it was Grace, and just wait for it to be over.

All the things that made it work, live (the power chords, the swagger, the lyrical innuendo, Grace), were making it not work, on mvy.

Testosterone. Balls. Swagger. These words have never been used to describe the sound of mvyradio.

So I just let it go, and pulled it from the playlist sooner than the average song. There are other tunes on that record, that fit our folk-rock heart.

Not long after pulling the tune out of rotation, I was watching TV, and I heard these riffs. And I immediately went to the thought: What The Hell Is This?! Then I'd remember it was Grace, and I didn't want the song to end.

The riffs and Grace's vocal hook were matched up to the slow-motion action sequences of a new Superhero TV series called "The Cape."

Testosterone. Balls. Swagger. These words are likely the exact words the promo folks at NBC were hoping would come to mind, when pairing this song with the trailer.

It's all about context, isn't it? Not quite right for a super-station. Perfect for super-hero.


The NBC Promo


The album version


The acoustic version

Vince Guaraldi "Linus And Lucy"

You'd be hard pressed to find someone between the ages of, say, 35 and 65, who didn't have a very definite favorite dancer, from this scene in "A Charlie Brown Christmas."



While I was a long-time fan of Shermy's pioneering "zombie walk" (sure, Michael Jackson gets the credit for the "Moonwalk," but Shermy was doing essentially the same thing, nearly 2 decades earlier) I have to say now that I'm an adult, I dig Linus' self-confident cha-cha move. He looks completely unselfconscious, and in the moment.

And I don't think I'd ever noticed before, but for a girl who's mean to others, Violet's "punching-up dancing" is majorly mock-able.

Do you have a favorite?

The full song