NanciNet Digest 6-21-99
// Concert reports, radio problems...
// Enjoy...[BP]
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Subject: NN: Nanci in Atlanta
From: Catelaw@aol.com
Dear friends,
Well the long-awaited night for Atlanta has come and gone. I can never hope
to match the standard set by Ken Lippert for concert reviews, but here's a
report on Nanci's appearance at Chastain Park last night.
The venue itself is very nice -- cozy and good seats for all, but the
downside of it is that it is largely occupied by people who have season
tickets and come for the social nature of the event. There is a Chastain
tradition and uniqueness that allows people to bring "picnics" in and have
dinner before the concerts. People really seem to try to outdo each other in
the lengths to which they go to set a nice table. You can either bring your
own stuff or have it catered. People bring in china, silver, candlelabras,
flowers, linen tablecloths, napkins, the whole nine yards, so to speak. Once
it gets dark, the candles make for a beautiful setting, but my guess would be
that at least 75% of the people there didn't have a clue as to who Nanci
Griffith is, at least before the concert. I believe they knew who she is
when it was over, though.
The ASO opened the show with thre numbers including a Hoedown piece, a
selection called Moon Magic, and music from Riverdance. Nanci and BMO walked
onto the stage during the Riverdance number and very few in attendance even
knew she was up there (I, on the other hand, was standing in my seat, yelling
like a banshee!).
Fashion report: She was wearing an ankle-length black skirt with white
pinstripes and a sleveless, v-necked white blouse. She had on a necklace,
and I believe it was the standard gold one she generally wears. She also had
on white ankle socks and black flats. She looked great, radiating health,
happiness, and fun. She was in fine voice. I didn't hear the slightest
stumble or effort in the performance. Best of all, she looked like she was
having the time of her life. Sonny Curtis and J.I. Allison joined her for a
few numbers.
She told the story about how she had wanted to play the french horn and how
her family had suffered through two years of it before her father finally did
away with the french horn. Then she had the french horn section stand up and
take a bow. She said her Christmas card to her family this year was a
picture of her and the London SO's french horn section.
Warning -- the set list follows, for those who don't want to read it:
Trouble in the Fields
Love at the Five and Dime
These Days in an Open Book
Nobody's Angel (which she described as "the weirdest song I ever wrote")
Gulf Coast Highway (Hooker in fine voice, also and looking great)
Going Back to Georgia (huge crowd response, of course)
Intermission
ASO - 4 Scottish Dances by Malcolm Arnold
(Nanci came back out after these and talked about her heritage, said the ASO
did a GREEEEEEEEEEEET! job on these)
Always Will
Outbound Plane
Not My Way Home (w/Sonny)
It's a Hard Life (another huge crowd response; passionate introduction by
Nanci including MLK's "I have a dream" theme)
Late Night Grand Hotel (absolutely gorgeous)
Tell Me How (with Sonny and J.I.)
This Heart
Encores: Wing and the Wheel (she added some new verses at the end)
and Well Alright
I didn't see any NN t-shirts and very few people wearing Nanci concert t's.
But I did get to meet Amber Gilbert from NN, who came and found me. Amber is
fourteen and we have been corresponding about homelessness and other issues
dear to our hearts. Getting to meet her was also a highlight of the show,
because she has such a pure heart and is so dedicated to righting the wrongs
in our world. Makes me feel better about things to know we have young people
like Amber coming along. You go, girl!
All in all, a wonderful evening. I'm just sad it's over, but looking forward
to this CD. Nanci said it will be out in September.
Cate, "carried away" in Atlanta
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Subject: Re: NN: Nanci in Atlanta
From: Halesbop@aol.com
Thanks for the nice-and timely--report, Cate! Sounds like it was a very
distinguished evening. I get the impression Doug Lancio wasn't there. Is
this correct? But otherwise it was the BMO and the symphony performing
together with Nanci? I'm envious.
hope you didn't spill any red wine on your tablecloth,
Steve
p.s. did anyone see Nanci in B'ham at City Stages?
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Subject: Re: NN: Nanci in Atlanta
From: Catelaw@aol.com
> Sounds like it was a very distinguished evening. I get the impression
> Doug Lancio wasn't there. Is this correct? But otherwise it was the BMO
> and the symphony performing together with Nanci? I'm envious.
>
> hope you didn't spill any red wine on your tablecloth
Is Doug the dark-haired guy that plays guitar she refers to as "the
juvenile?" If so, he was there. Ditto for Lee Satterfield, Pat McInerney,
Ron de la Vega, James Hooker and I think that's all, besides the
aforementioned Crickets. It was wonderful.
No spills, no tablecloth. We had wings and cokes from the concession stand
and ate them with our fingers (pinkies prominently withdrawn) like the
uncouth hillbillies we are. I'm just really none too domestic. ;)
BTW, there was quite a brisk business in Nanci t-shirts going on during
intermission and after the show...
Nanci mentioned the Bham show in the context of driving over from Bham
afterwards. Said they were singing "Going Back to Georgia" on the way.
Cate, still flying high, in Atlanta
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Subject: Re: NN: Nanci in Atlanta
From: Todd Barrett (astrocity@hotmail.com>
I just wanted to second Cate's emotions. It was a terrific show with Nanci
in great spirits and unwavering voice.
>People really seem to try to outdo each other in the lengths to which they
>go to set a nice table.
That was my first experience at Chastain and had no idea it was going to be
like that. I kept chuckling to myself at the whole spectacle. I did share
in some cheese and crackers with some nice nanci folks beside me. All the
candles made for a beautiful picture when it turned dark.
>(I, on the other hand, was standing in my seat, yelling
>like a banshee!).
>Cate
Were you the person who yelled a request from off the side and Nanci replied
that the ASO hadn't practiced that one. :)
Todd Barrett
*Girls With Guitars*
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Balcony/9132/music.html
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Subject: Re: NN: Nanci in Atlanta
From: Catelaw@aol.com
> Were you the person who yelled a request from off the side and Nanci
> replied that the ASO hadn't practiced that one. :)
Nope, wasn't me -- I was on the opposite side of the terrace...I thought it
might be you :)
Okay, who was it?
I can't believe it was already 24 hours ago...
Cate, still smiling, in Atlanta
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Subject: NN: nanci merchandise
From: "n gaunt" (pawandporschecafe@email.msn.com>
anyone know where i can snag nanci stuff (t shirts, et cetera)? i have an
old contact at music city merchandise, but lost it. thanks.
ps-the recent concert she gave w/austin symphony was great....truly a fair
(but wet) summer evening....
nicholas @ the paw and porsche cafe
austin dallas santa fe
---------
The Paw and Porsche Cafe proudly endorses Indian motocycles, the frozen
margarita, sunroofs, Nanci Griffith, Jimmy Buffett, fountain pens, the state
of Texas, and your local library.
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Subject: NN: From a Distance Book
From: Ian R (100451.1006@compuserve.com>
Folks
I am not sure if this is something only I had not come across, but
yesterday evening I was in Nottingham Castle at a function and I paused to
loom at a book exhibit.
There in prime position was a book called "From a Distance" with Julie Gold
as author. It is a beautifully illustrated book which is basically just
Julie's lyrics set out among lovely coloured drawings.
There is a short tribute from Nanci on the back cover.
The book costs about $30 and is published by Orchard Publishing of London
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Subject: NN: Beth N C on BBC Radio 2
From: "Matthew Bloomfield" (mailm@tthewb.u-net.com>
Hello again,
Now I'm not a regular listener to Radio 2, despite this being the
third recomendation for a programme within a week.
But UK NanciNuts really ought to catch Beth Nielsen Chapman at 1900 on
Thursday when she will be appearing as a guest on the Bob Harris
Country show. You won't be disappointed by this fantastic performer.
Matt - Fast running out of tapes...
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Subject: NN: Robbie Osman fired for reading statement
From: "Matthew J.Baker" (matbaker@pacbell.net>
hello all,
first note: maybe this time i'll catch my spelling error before posting.
second note: this quoted from the june 20th San Francisco Examiner
"Robbie Osman, host of the "Across the Great Divide" folk music show,
learned Friday his weekly program has been canceled after he used the
airwaves to read a statement about ongoing disagreements at the station
and within the Pacifica radio network to which it belongs....
...To protest the firings, some KPFA listeners have planned a
demonstration outside the station's storefront office on Martin Luther
King Way (in Berkeley) at 11a.m. Sunday, the time slot in which Osman's
show used to air."
for those who may not know, this show is one of the very few places you
can hear music by such artist as Nanci Griffith and Kate Wolf on the
radio. the song "Across the Great Divide" was written by Kate Wolf as a
gift to Robbie Osman. he had already given his show that name, and kate
used it as inspiration to write a theme song for him.
the current events at KPFA radio or just insane. If you are anywhere
near Berkeley today
come to the radio station at 11 a.m. it is on Martin Luther King Way,
near University Avenue. I don't know what is planned to take place, but
i'm sure the folk music community will be out in force today.
--
matthew j. baker
matbakerATpacbellDOTnet
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Subject: NN:the music has been silenced.
From: Matthew J.Baker" (matbaker@pacbell.net
well it happened. the music was silenced.
today at 11a.m. at the time when Robbie Osamn would have been
broadcasting from KPFA radio in Berkeley, CA, the radio station went off
the air. and they did not plan to return to broadcasting until 1p.m.
when the next program is scheduled to begin.
as i posted before Robbie Osman was fired for not following the
unwritten "gag rule" that has been in effect at KPFA.
for more information i suggestion you check out this web site.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/examiner/hotnews/
stories/20/kpfa.dtl
--
as well as
http://savepacifica.net/
and to understand the importance of this situation you should read this
article as well.
http://www.sfgate.com/eguide/music/derk/
the following is taken from that article
--Every Northern California Sunday for nearly 20 years,
faithful listeners of Robbie Osman's topically-oriented
folk music show on KPFA radio have heard the
program open with Wolf's "Across The Great Divide."
Like most Wolf compositions, the song speaks to
universal truths. But it was written especially for
Osman's show in 1980.
"The show was called 'Across The Great Divide' a long
time before Kate decided to write the song," Osman
explains. "I took the name from the song by The
Band, without naming the show after the song, if you
know what I mean. Then Kate came to me one day
and said, 'Let's take a walk.' We went up to Skyline
Gate in the Oakland hills. She didn't tell me what she
was up to. As we walked along she had a lot of
questions about why I had named the program
'Across The Great Divide' -- what meaning it held for
me, and what I wanted to do with the program. We
passed the place where I once saw an owl and had
been thrilled by it. That ended up in the song, and a
lot of the other imagery in the song comes from what
had been happening in both our lives at the time. We
were both living out of suitcases in friends' houses,
both feeling very much as if our foundations had been
shaken in some way."
The house where Osman had been living had burned.
"Kate and one of her kids helped me sort through all
the old stuff that was laying around the house. There
was a lot of literal 'sifting through the layers of dusty
books and faded papers that told a story I used to
know.' I think Kate wanted to write a song not so
much for me, but for the show and how it involved
people. It was a great gift. I can't very quickly think of
many gifts that I've ever gotten that were of more value
to me."
--
i have just returned from the demonstration down at the radio station.
(i'd have stayed if not for this horrible cold i'm struck down with).
there was a sizable crowd gathering. and more people joining them by
them minute. i'm just waiting to see what happens at 1pm when the next
program, which is of a folk music nature as well, returns KPFA to the
air waves as the said they would.
just as it has been robbie's style to present event he thought were
important. i'm sending this news out to all of you. along with the
factual information as it exists.
this is about the music we all love and the sharing of it with others.
if not for robbie's show i would never have heard this music. and now it
is silenced.
--
matthew j. baker
matbakerATpacbellDOTnet
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Subject: NN: Radio
From: John Edward Graveling (kai21@dial.pipex.com>
With the goings on in California and the loss of the "Across the Great
Divide" show it seems like the corporate twerps who run the vast majority
of radio stations these days, have got their way again. It's not a whole
lot different here in England, where we've just lost Johnnie Walker,
suspended by the BBC for allegedly offering to supply drugs and
prostitutes for two undercover newsmen, who work for our version of "The
Enquirer". Radio seems to want faceless, knowledgeless twits to sit in
front of microphones, having little or no knowledge of the music that the
computer chooses from the ever shrinking playlists, and present bland
faceless music to the masses. The whole think sucks. Here we get about 8
hours a week good national radio, and a little more if you live within
transmitting range of a good local station. The miles I've driven across
America for the last ten years it seems even more dire there, apart from
the recent increase in Americana stations. When will radio listen to the
listeners and give us what we want to hear, and not what they want to
force feed us?
John "disgusted" Graveling.
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Subject: NN: I don't know how lucky I am
From: nannynan@earthling.net
Wow! I've been reading the posts about the demise of "across the great
divide," and the general dearth of good folk radio stations, while I am
listening to the Gene Shay Folk Show on WXPN, the listener supported radio
station out of the University of Pennsylvania in Phladelphia. (4-8 every
Sunday.) Just now Lucy Kapalnsky and Christine Lavin are chatting with
Gene, live; Lucy just got done singing "Ten Year Night," live. Gene's been
the folk DJ since the sixties (he's changed stations a few times.) I first
heard Bob Dylan on his show, and Nanci and Tom Paxton..... 'XPN has
translators in the Harrisburg area, Baltimore and the Lehigh Valley (NE
PA) Check the web site at http://www.XPN..org for stations etc.
Christine Lavin is now singing a song I've never heard before: "The Piranha
women of the avacado jungle of death." which is a hoot. Harmony by Lucy.
got to go now.
Nancy with a Y
>"There is no snooze button on a cat who wants breakfast."-Unknown
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Subject: NN: Lite reading? (very non nanci)
From: poetmuse@prodigy.net
I hope Bill "gosh he's so nice" Page will forgive the muse on this one, but I
just wanted to announce I finished a 2nd incantation of my web page and wanted
to just put a little ol' blurb out there about it.
It's full of poetry and angst and not for the faint of heart, but if you've
ever loved and lost I'm pretty sure you'll find something on there to make it
better...
it's the story of a lonely heart (okay, namely me)....
and it's a bit scary to put so much of myself out there for prying eyes, but
what the hell...it's only fiction. Right?
And to be a bit on topic, I do start the site out with a quote from
you-know-who. :)
And I do thank you for your time.
Christina "forest for love songs" Myers
http://members.aol.com/poetmuse/indexA.html
(a note to Netscape users... try hitting reload if the graphics appear dark..
for some reason this helps!)
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Subject: NN: Nanci's Symphony Tour
From: Pablo Supkay (pablos@corbis.com>
Hi everyone...I'm new to the list.
I moved to Seattle from Austin, TX before discovering Nanci Griffith on PBS
Austin City Limits. Since then, I have been waiting expectantly for a
chance to see her Live and now my chance has arrived. She's playing the
Pier in Seattle with Seattle Symphony and then she is performing at an
Oregon winery later in the month. No problem travelling for Nanci.
Question: I have noticed that Nanci is playing with symphonies across the
U.S. Does anyone know the format for these shows? What songs will she
likely play and how will they work the symphony into the act?
Also, could someone direct me to a resource where I could get some videos of
Nanci Live?
Thanks,
Pablo
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Subject: NN: epulse review Toni Price (no Nanci content)
From: Halesbop@aol.com
Things are a little quiet, so hopefully no one will mind another little plug
for Toni Price. This is from this week's epulse, Tower Records' online
newsletter. I wrote about this cd on here a short time ago; this reviewer
seems to like it as well. It also garnered a positive review in the May/June
issue of No Depression.
Steve
(from epulse)
New Orleans has Irma Thomas. Washington, D.C., had, until recently, Eva
Cassidy. And if you've been down to the Continental Club on a Tuesday
night sometime in the last seven years, you'll know that Austin, Texas,
has TONI PRICE. A regional treasure, Price is a powerful vocal interpreter
who, in some fairer parallel universe, would already be a household name
beyond Austin's city limits. Maybe her fourth album, 'LOW DOWN AND UP'
(Antone's/Sire, out now), will do the trick, as the Nashville refugee
brings out the soul in an array of settings from country to blues, from an
obscure Billie Holiday number called "Comes Love" to Dr. John's bluesy
"Remember Me" with the man himself guesting on piano. On tracks like
"Rusty Old Red River" and the Ian McLagen-backed "Out the Front Door,"
Price evokes classic Irma and Bonnie Raitt, then goes honky-tonkin' on
"Loserville Blues" and wrangles up some tears with "Lonesome Wind" (these
last two tracks written by Price's longtime collaborator, Gwil Owen).
Covers of Walter Hyatt's "Foolin' Around" and Charles Brown's "Why Is Love
Like That" round out a consistently strong album from an artist well worth
discovering. (Forman)
epulse is the weekly ezine published by Tower Records/Video.
To subscribe to epulse, send the message "subscribe epulse-L" to the
address: majordomo@sna.com. Tell your friends.
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Subject: NN: Magnificent
From: John Edward Graveling (kai21@dial.pipex.com>
Tonight Beth Nielsen Chapman made her British debut, and she brought
along fabled Nashville writer Annie Roboff to accompany her on backing
vocals and keyboards. They put on two hours of near perfection, she did
forget the words to "Down On My Knees", and it was a magnificent
occassion. The front row ended up being a bit of a nanci net convention,
with Maureen Parr sat next to me, and Paul Tan a few seats away. I had
never met either before tonight, but both turned out to be really nice
people. I'll give sway and let them tell you what a magnificent evening
of music we were treated to.
Suffice to say that anyone who is either a nanci netter or moonpier, if
Beth plays near you do not pass up the opportunity to see her perform,
she is there with the best, as a writer, musician and performer. She
also told a great story of her, Annie and Mary Chapin Carpenter writing
"Almost Home" which is on MCC's "Party Doll", and how they call each
other 'loser chicks', it's not a derogatory term, it just means you have
to do something really 'sad' each day. They say you can recognise a
'loser chick' because they have food hanging by the side of their mouths,
or they never get their mascara on right. MCC had a big bag of popcorn
while they wrote the song, but as most of it ended up in crumbs on the
floor she proved she was a real 'loser chick'.
John Graveling.
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