Molly Parmenter, "U Know I'm No Good"

I'm back to work this week, but taking a vacation from the blog.  Scott Lajoie fills in . . .

We started doing two new annual features for Cape Cod Magazine back in January. One is our annual "People of the Year," and the other, which has ultimately turned out to be the most fun, is our "People to Watch." As you can imagine, we encounter a lot of people we would love to put in the magazine, but for some reason they don't warrant their own feature, or they don't fit into other articles. "People to Watch" is a chance to cram a bunch of profiles (albeit short) with great portraits (after all, nobody reads anymore!).

I had heard raves about Berklee College of Music student Carly Tefft through various media and had chosen her first as one of our three "upcoming performers." I rounded out the trio with two other women: Rayssa Ribeiro, a native Brazilian with a booming voice who has fronted a few local bands, and Centerville's Molly Parmenter, a bartender at the Island Merchant who had stepped out from behind the bar to do acoustic nights there and had been garnering some buzz.

We gathered the women one afternoon at photographer Dan Cutrona's studio. As is the case with any photo shoot that amasses complete strangers, there is some awkwardness. I wondered whether Carly's reputation, her studio familiarity, and experience playing at some Boston venues would perhaps intimidate the other two. Not Rayssa. During her moment, she grabbed a microphone from her car as a prop (we didn't have anything to plug it into!) and belted out a song with no musical accompaniment.

Uh-oh. What would Molly do? I kinda winced. She started playing her guitar, a few bars of a melodic strumming riff. She closed her eyes, and she started singing. Over the next couple of minutes, it was as if her heart had opened up on the spot and her own gorgeous lyrics bled out. I don't think Dan took too many pictures. After she was done, both Carly and Rayssa complimented her profusely for such a great impromptu performance. As for me, I was happy for the confirmation. I am not a music scout, but it was evident I had chosen these special ladies well.

All three are worth seeing live for a night out, but I post Molly's YouTube video of her cover of Amy Winehouse's "U Know I'm No Good," out of sheer irony. Check her out at the Island Merchant in Hyannis tomorrow night. She goes on at 8 p.m.


Hear the song on Youtube.

The Parkington Sisters "Our By The Day"

I'm back to work this week, but taking a vacation from the blog.  Scott Lajoie fills in . . .
 
As editor of Cape Cod Magazine, I am privy to some great local music here on the stopover point to Martha’s Vineyard. This week, I will be focusing on some of our area’s best women performers.

A few years ago, I stumbled upon Wellfleet’s Parkington Sisters. The five had been performing along Main Street Hyannis. They seemed talented enough, with a sisterly knack for great harmonies. But it wasn’t until PJ and I traveled to the Narrows in Fall River to hear the Parkington Sisters open for David Wax Museum that my curiosity was really piqued. I got copies of their two most recent albums and listened to them non-stop for almost a month. Their music is truly original. After all, who can sing like the world’s best church choir one moment, and rock out with the Dropkick Murphys the next? I was particularly astounded by how moving such simple melodies could be, even if they are hardly radio friendly.


Hear "Ours By The Day" on Youtube.

We featured them in the magazine the following March (although with the youngest sister intent on finishing college, they were down to four). We did a little fashion spread with them (they are all pretty photogenic to say the least) and gave them little Faustian questionnaires to fill out. Turns out they are quite funny and interesting, too.

I could go on and on about how they combine so many different influences into their own sound, but it is just as well you just listen yourself. I, for one, am anticipating their next album.


Hear "Inside My Head" on Youtube.

Skee Lo "I Wish"

Yesterday I posted a song about the Skillet Toss, and my friend Scott jokingly asked if I had a song about a Skittle Toss.

The Google-Of-My-Brain went to work, and I came up with this one.  Hey, there just aren't that many songs with the word "Skittle" in them.  And he does get a bottle tossed at his head.

It's pretty close, Scott, right?

Either way, it's a pretty cute, innocent 90s song.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Evan Dando "Frying Pan"

Doing "Fair" songs for the MV Ag Fair . . .

One of the highlights of the Fair on Martha's Vineyard, is the Skillet Toss, which is exactly what it sounds like.  Local women compete to see who can throw a frying pan the farthest.

And yes, I have a song for that.  He's the Victoria Williams song called "Frying Pan," sung by a guy who's spent many a summer day on the Vineyard.


Hear the song on Youtube.


See the Ag Fair Skillet Toss on Youtube.

R.E.M. "Carnival Of Sorts"

Fair songs for the next couple of days, for the MV Ag Fair . . .

Uh, what is this slice of awesomeness brought to us by Youtube?  A super-young R.E.M. on a Nickelodeon show hosted by Fred Newman?  Score!


See the awesome video on Youtube.

Bonnie Raitt "Too Long At The Fair"

I'm on vacation this week.  So is the President.  So are about 70-thousand other folks who are on the Vineyard right now.  Which is part of the reason I'm vacationing elsewhere.

Though I do hate to be away during the Ag Fair, which is as sweet and wholesome and as far away from the perceived glitz and glamor and "tony"ness that the media likes to claim MV is about.

For the next couple of days . . . fair songs.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Josh Clayton-Felt "Building Atlantis"

I'm on vacation this week, so here's another We Used To Play This post:

This song could have been a hit.  We played it.  But circumstances were really what prevented its success.

Josh Clayton-Felt was a Boston-based musician who had success in the 90s with his band School Of Fish, and had a minor alternative solo hit called "Window" in the mid-90s.

He was working on a follow-up, when he was diagnosed with a rare form of testicular cancer.  He passed away within a month.

His label released the record, but when an artist is unable to tour or even interview in support of a record, that record has a hard time gaining any traction.

mvyradio played "Building Atlantis" but the record slipped from public consciousness, and our playlist, not long after.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Jimmy Buffett "Savannah Fare You Well"

I'm on vacation this week, so here's another We Used To Play This post:

People have pretty strong feelings about Jimmy Buffett, and those who have negative feelings are usually reacting to a) the over-saturation of the biggest hits and b) the "party" culture around Parrotheads.  (That 2nd one is kinda like how some people don't like the Grateful Dead, based solely on their dislike of Deadheads)

But Buffett has this treasure-trove of really well-written, well-observed, lovely tunes and stories.  And if they weren't obscured by the huge success of party anthems like "Cheeseburger In Paradise," I think more folks would respect his talent.

In 2000-ish Buffett put out a nice collection of tunes, and we played "Savannah Fare You Well," a lovely addition to a great collection of the singer-songwriter under-appreciated canon.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Jay Farrar "Voodoo Candle"

I'm away on vacation this week so here's anotherWe Used To Play This post:

Jay Farrar has mostly used the Son Volt moniker, even though the band members has changed pretty frequently over the last 20-something years.

But occasionally, he puts something out under his own name.  This one, circa 2001, sounded great, and I liked playing it, but it didn't really last on the mvyradio playlist . . .


Hear the song on Youtube.

Dandy Warhols "Bohemian Like You"

Here's another We Used To Play This post.

We played this one a LOT for the first few years after it came out.  But listening now, I can see why we dropped it from rotation.

Great song, but it's got such a different attitude than the songs usually found on mvyradio.  It's very 90s in attitude (snarky, ironic) and young in subject matter (server jobs, dating), where most of the MVY audience is in a different place in their lives.  Still, a good song is a good song, and you have to play them when you can.


Hear the song on Youtube.