Material Issue "Goin' Thru Your Purse"

My wife asked me to retrieve something from her purse.

"It's in the front pocket."

"I don't see it," I said, fishing through the front pocket.

"It's in the one right near the front."

And I realized that there was another compartment.

"I still don't see it."

"Right in front," she said.

And then I realized that there was another, even smaller compartment, closer to the front.

But I still couldn't find it.

"Nope."

"It's there."

"Wait a minute," I said.  "Found it."

It was in yet another compartment, hidden, that was inside the smaller compartment that I'd previously found.

Why is a pocketbook so complicated?

It made me think of both this Seth Myers "Weekend Update" joke, and of this Material Issue song.

See the video on NBC.


Hear the song 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.

Amanda Shires "Devastate"

A blogger's work is never done . . .

Despite writing like 1000 posts about Newport Folk artists, there are still people I didn't get to mention.

Look and listen for Amanda Shires.

The Festival is stepping into the artist curated stage scene, using the indoor Museum Of Yachting room as a small space for performances.

Yesterday, The Low Anthem chose a series of artists to perform.

Today, Rhode Island's Joe Fletcher has put together what he calls "Nashville To Newport," bringing in some of his favorite Nashville singer-songwriters.

Amanda Shires has a new album out next week, and the singer, songwriter, player will do a short set on the MOY stage.

But I don't expect that to be all we'll see of her.  Her husband, Jason Isbell, is also on the bill today, and she regularly backs him.

Watch live video, or hear audio, and see the broadcast line-up on our site.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Iris Dement "Let The Mystery Be"

A very pleasant woman arrived at our doorstep this week, to talk about religion.  She asked about our beliefs.

I've written a number of times about religion, and what it means to me.

I wish I'd remembered this Iris Dement song.  I think this sums up my philosophy, as well as anything.

Iris Dement 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 starting today at 2pm, with live sets from the stage, on mvyradio.com.


Hear the song on Youtube.


Hear the 10,000 Maniacs/David Byrne version on Youtube.

Tift Merritt "Broken"

I was looking at the list of Newport Folk artists, to see if their names jogged any memories that would make good blog posts.

And when I saw the name Tift Merritt it made me smile, and blush just a little.

At Merlefest 2008, our set up was right in the middle of the Community College campus, in pretty much the geographic center of the 14 stage sprawl.  They had us, believe it or not, in an actual old caboose, which they'd outfitted with power and internet.

And if you stood on the back of the train, you were overlooking the table where artists would be scheduled to autograph CDs and meet with fans.

It was pretty revealing and entertaining, to note what the crowd in that autograph line looked like, based on which artist was at the table that hour.

When legendary pickers like Jorma Kaukonen were seated behind the table, the line was filled with middle aged guys with pot bellies, holding their own guitar to have it signed, ready with their technical question.

When young rebel bands like The Avett Brothers sat there, the line was made up of young hipsters, sporting tattoos and fashionable but perhaps inappropriate gear, like wool caps (it was April).

I watched Tift Merritt coming across campus, headed to her turn to meet and greet.

She was wearing a sleek little dress, that had a plunging neckline and stopped short at the knees, to give full view of her kick-ass boots.

She strutted right up to the table.  Looked at the chair set out for her.  Then back at the table.

And then she jauntily hopped herself right onto the table itself, crossing her legs, ready to meet her fans.

Oh, and looking at those guys just made me laugh.

I mean, look at those awkward 40-something-year-old guys in line.  In their jeans and their band t-shirts.

Look at them shyly, awkwardly, try to talk to the cool, pretty singer.

And watch the cool, pretty singer just charm these guys into a puddle.

What dorks!  What losers!  What . . . wait.

Pretty much every guy in that line, looks like me.

(Sad trombone)

Tift Merrit 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 "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.

Bare Jr "Song For Bobby's Ex"

Buried deep into the lineup page for Newport Folk, I found a little gem that I'm super excited about.

Waaaay at the bottom of the line-up page, on Saturday, there's a listing for Joe Fletcher's Nashville To Newport.  I enjoyed Fletcher's set last year, and so I was intrigued by this posting.

This year, they let Fletcher curate a whole stage---the indoor room in the Museum Of Yachting.  And he's bringing in a number of his Rhode Island friends, and a number of his Nashville friends, to play sets.

And there, in very small print, I saw the name Bobby Bare Jr.

I loved the debut Bare Jr. record called "Boo-tay."  And I was thinking about it recently, when I was trying to come up with a Hot Seat about hidden tracks.

One of my favorite hidden tracks on a CD ever, is on "Boo-tay."  I don't want to say too much about it, because what I love about it is the comical way it's delivered.  As well as the realness of the part the precedes the song.

So check out the hidden track, turn up the volume for the beginning (but put on headphones, because it's NSFW) and don't miss Bare's hidden set at Newport Folk on Saturday.

Bobby Bare Jr 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.

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.

Beth Orton "She Cries Your Name"

Here's another Weekend Post:

As I was saying yesterday, there are surprisingly few artists on the bill, who had any 1990s output.  But Beth Orton goes back that far . . .


Hear the song on Youtube. 

Weekend posts are a chance to revisit songs that have happy memories, not of anything in particular, other than just hearing the tunes.

Many of these songs were tracks that I played during my 90s stint as an Alternative/Modern Rock radio show.  They're tunes that I hardly hear these days, but are fun to revisit.

Click on the "Weekend Posts" label below, to see other posts like this.