NanciNet Digest 7-13-00
// Ravinia concert reports galore, more from Atlanta, NanciNet
// badge info, you name it, we got it...
// We also have a great note from Lippert, and lots of responses
// to his note from folks who can't remember how to spell his name
// (it's KenN).
//
// Enjoy...[BP]
_________________________________________________________________
Subject: NN: nanci at ravinia (chicago)
Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 23:32:02 -0500
From: Jennifer Briggs (jenb@mediaone.net>
Hi,
I haven't posted in sooo long, but I wanted to share that Nanci was
RADIANT at her show tonight at Ravinia, outside Chicago. She did
basically the same set list as Atlanta, except she closed with From a
Distance....at least that was the last song we heard as we left the
grounds (had to get to the car earlier than usual since it was my
six-year old's first concert and she was beat!) What a feeling to be
escorted out by Nanci's ringing voice, singing that beautiful song.
My husband, who doesn't care for ALL of Nanci's stuff but admires her
talent nonetheless, said she is absolutely amazing when you see her
live. She is a consummate professional on stage, with a commanding
presence and a voice that absolutely won't quit. These are his words,
but I couldn't agree more. All eyes were on her from the first minute
she walked out on stage and she sings and plays with such RESPECT and
LOVE for the music, that she is truly one of a kind, a musician's
musician. What a great show!
Anyway, one last thing. A woman I was standing next to started tearing
up when Nanci first came on stage. It seemed to me that this must be
her first concert and it reminded me of the first time I saw Nanci four
years ago...what an impression she makes upon first viewing. It's a
feeling I'll never forget and seeing that woman's response brought it
back. It's amazing how one person can bring so much happiness and joy
to so many...
That's all for now,
Jennifer Briggs
_________________________________________________________________
Subject: Re: NN: nanci at ravinia (chicago)
Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 22:31:52 -0700 (PDT)
From: M S (hobobacoba@yahoo.com>
bravo well put nanci played one more song after
you left, i think it's called well alright my
daughter and i were in the third row and nanci seemed
to smile at me several times be still my heart i
admire most nanci's authority on stage, she is the
source nanci griffith loud and live is a very
special experience for me i would have liked to hear
1937 prewar kimball but it's not really possible for
me to be disappointed right now
since this is my annual contribution, thank you for
providing this vehicle for all of us to connect and...
john alvord, will you please please please send those
nancinet stickers? it's been a year and 2 nanci
concerts and i am still waiting thank you God
bless you all
mark
_________________________________________________________________
Subject: NN: Ravinia
Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 00:39:36 EDT
From: DavidVige@aol.com
Just got back from Nanci's Ravinia/Chicago concert (featuring the Chicago
Symphony, along w/ the BMO) .... our lady was in FINE voice, and the nite
was magic! Her set was the tour usual, and I found her to be even better
than she was at the Royal Albert Hall back at the end of May (as hard to
imagine as that might be!).
This venue is a pavilion, along with lots of lawn seating ... we packed a
picnic and sat out on the lawn along with countless others, taking in the
lovely sounds of Nanci et al., and enjoyed the evening's perfect weather
(Chicago summers make up for the winters!). Wish you could've all been
there!! This tour's highlite has got to be her cover of Frank Christian's
"Drops in the Faucet"!!! :)))
_________________________________________________________________
Subject: NN: Ex-virgin
Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 00:59:42 -0500 (CDT)
From: PhotoTwang@webtv.net (Richard Hill)
It's just another morning here. Well, not quite. A couple hours ago, I
was treated to a wonderful evening of music. Nanci, the new edition BMO
(Chaz Williams on bass and dobro, and vocalist Lee Ann Etheridge), the
Ravinia Festival Orchestra with Peter Bay conducting (Mr. Bay is music
director of the Austin Symphony).
You'll all find this hard to imagine, but this was my FIRST ever Nanci
Griffith concert!
Y'see, I came to the NanciNet backwards. I've liked Nanci and her music
since I first heard her back in the middle '80s. Though I enjoyed her
LPs, then CDs, and her TV appearances; truth is, that was that, and I
never really paid all that close attention to your beloved Nanci.
Memorial Day weekend, 1999, Memphis, Tennessee, I was enjoying an
amazing weekend of music with Tracy Nelson, followed by Shawn & Amanda
Kimbro, Amy McKibbin, Kelly Sanderson, Gin Rose Jeanes, Tricia Walker,
and Kate Campbell. Though I was at the fantastic [moonpie] gathering,
celebrating Kate Campbell, everyone around me was a Nanci-Netter. When I
got back home, I too signed up on the N-N to see what all the fuss was
about, and I've been mostly lurking ever since.
Finally, last night, I got my chance to check out that 'fuss'
first-hand. Nanci was everything that you all have known she is. What a
great concert!
The setlist was very much like the Chastain list:
Overture (the orchestra)
Trouble in These Fields
Love at the Five and Dime
These Days In An Open Book
Nobody's Angel
Gulf Coast Highway
Drops from the Faucet
Traveling Through This Part of You
If I Had A Hammer
– Intermission –
Always Will
Not My Way Home
Outbound Plane
It's A Hard Life Wherever You Go
Late Night Grande Hotel
Tell Me How
Wing and the Wheel
This Heart
Encore:
>From A Distance
Well All Right
NOW I see what "all the fuss is about" :-)
This is long enough, for now. Maybe a few more details tomorrow. It's
late, I'm tired, off to bed, now with Nanci's voice fresh in my head!
You guys in Michigan are in for a treat tonight!
Richard Hill
_________________________________________________________________
Subject: NN: Ravinia
Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 09:57:10 -0500 (CDT)
From: PhotoTwang@webtv.net (Richard Hill)
Just a couple quick further notes about last night (I'm on the digest /
so, I hope I'm not repeating what another may have already posted).
The Ravinia Festival Park in Highland Park, Illinois is a beautiful old
outdoor venue (the summer home of the Chicago Symphony).
Illinois weather, for the past two weeks, has been HOT and rainy. So, I
was fearing he worst, i.e. 94 degrees / 98% humidity / and rain.
Well, you know that that would never do for our Nanci. She saw to it
that we had a nearly perfect summer evening. Low humidity, sunny early
evening, and then in the upper sixties during the concert.
As she's doing at most every stop, a silent auction was held for those
silk scarves made by the land mine victims. Of course, Nanci encouraged
bidders to out-do the Atlanta/Chastain bunch. Results: "Chicago, you
kicked Atlanta's butt!" (Though she didn't reveal what the bids were,
and I'm guessing that she probably says something similar to this at
every stop(?)).
Once again, the Glaswegian contingency was represented. Nanci announced
from the stage that Joanna (or Joanne?) and her husband were with us all
the way from Glasgow, where they had seen Nanci last month. Those darn
Scots do get around (Walter's always traveling, and I believe Ms.
froggy's about to pond hop, too). Good to have y'all here.
All in all, a wonderful evening for my FIRST Nanci concert!
Y'all have a great time at Interlochen tonight!
Richard Hill
_________________________________________________________________
Subject: NN: Re: Ravinia
Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 00:52:26 EDT
From: SJLOU812@aol.com
Hi Group. Here is my very brief review of the Nanci Chicago/Ravinia show and
set list. I believe Nanci said that Lee S. has left the business (music
business) to pursue other stuff. It was great seeing Nanci with a full
Orchestra, but the vocals were turned up a little too high ~ still, gotta
love Nanci's voice no matter what. Nanci has silent bids at intermission for
some silk scarves that she brought back from Cambodia??? or somewhere where
they are made by women who were injured by the landmines that she is working
to bring awareness about. Chicago kicked Atlantas butt as Nanci said in the
bidding war. My sources tell me the top bid was around $4,000. I praise her
for using her celebrity to bring about awareness and good. Talked briefly
with Nanci after the show, and she loved Ravinia as it was her first time
playing the festival. It is a non-smoking venue outdoors, which I love.
(P.S. Got some autographs which I am willing to trade for someone who has an
extensive song collection of stuff she's done/contributed to that aren't on
her regular albums, and is willing to make a copy~ just e-mail me.) The set
list is/was as follows:
Overture (a.k.a. Dustbowl Reprise)
Trouble in these Fields
Love at the Five & Dime
These Days In An Open Book
Nobody's Angel
Gulf Coast Highway
Drops in a Faucet
Traveling through This Part of You
If I Had a Hammer
---Intermission---
Always Will
Not my Way Home.
Outbound Plane
It's a Hard Life Wherever You Go
Late Night Grand Hotel
Tell Me How
The Wing And The Wheel
This Heart
Encore
>From A Distance
Well Alright (Buddy Holly)
E-mail me at SJLOU812@aol.com w/ any questions or trades. Thanx, Steve
_________________________________________________________________
Subject: NN: Ravinia Festival concert (12 July)
Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 15:03:56 -0500
From: Bill Karnoscak (BKarnoscak@rushu.rush.edu>
Greetings folks,
Reading all of the comments about the Atlanta weekend made
me decided to "purloin" the set list from Chastain Park, and toss
in a few comments. Indeed, as Nanci mentioned, music and
singing together is the most universal form of communication,
even if we don't "speak" the same language.
Ravinia Festival Orchestra prologue (Dust Bowl Overture)
1. Trouble in the Fields
2. Love at the Five & Dime, dedicated to Kathy Mattea...
3. These Days in an Open Book
4. Nobody's Angel
5. Gulf Coast Highway (a brilliant and impassioned vocal duet by James!)
6. Drops in a Faucet
7. Traveling through this Part of You -
Dedicated to Eric Taylor ("whose experience in Vietnam in 69 nearly
destroyed him, and for every Viet Nam veteran in the audience"_NG)
8. If I Had a Hammer
---Intermission--- and silent auction for the three silk scarves made by
Landmine survivors...
9. Always Will
10. Not my Way Home - introduced by Nanci as the song that took four years
to write, or so she thought, until Sonny Curtis came by during the "Blue
Roses"
sessions and told her he wanted to sing the harmony line in it; and she
realized
it had been completed for years, and just needed that little bit of
encouragement
to move forward and commit it to posterity.
11. Outbound Plane
12. It's a Hard Life - "for Grandma Sue, who passed on last year at 101"
13. Late Night Grand Hotel - Nanci (in profile) thumbs her nose at the
critics'
universal pan of the album; but my fans seem to love it...
14. Tell Me How - spoke of the innocence a 22-year old man brought to this
lyric
15. Wing & The Wheel
16. This Heart (an extraordinary Horn/Brass chart gave this a particularly
salsa-like feel
Encore:
17. Well Alright
So this looks pretty similar to the Chastain Park experience (even the
order strikes me as completely parallel -- no complaint here, save for
the tail end. I didn't take notes as I was completely transfixed by the
wonder of this woman standing in front of two "orchestras." Not to
mention, I played "Julie, the cruise director" ("Loveboat," dear hearts)
and got 40 folks up to Ravinia (just about an hour north of Chicago) for
this event, so I really wanted to relax once everyone had their tickets and
was seated for the show.
I think the mold count and other allergens were playing havoc with
Nanci's vocal chords, and she was fairly hoarse and coarse through the
majority of the first set. She seemed to find her stride (and plain just
loosened up) in a very well-received "Drops from a Faucet." I found this
to be more engaging live than on the disc myself. Also, the sound mix for
the vocals (all, not just Nanci's) was often murky, with the orchestra
completely overpowering the Blue Moon Orchestra voices.
Personally, I felt the Orchestra(l) arrangements constricted/restricted
(where is Deb Thornton when you need her?) the energy, enthusiasm and
spontaneity of the show. Understandably, when you have 40+ additional
musicians on stage, it's impossible to be prepared to do much, if anything
that is "off the agenda."
But our Nance was really chatty in between set selections. And as always
was extraordinarily gracious to her fellow musicians; she named all the
symphony soloists (first and last names), and the crowd applauded
appropriately
for the well-played solos. I love it when an audience (especially one of
that size)
is plugged in so well that they acknowledge musicianship in that manner.
All in all, a splendid night spent under the stars...
Bill Karnoscak
bkarnoscak@rushu.rush.edu
Chicago Illinois
_________________________________________________________________
Subject: NN: Nanci and Atlanta
Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 22:29:14 -0400
From: "Donna Little" (dlittle032@worldnet.att.net>
It was painful but I have gotten back to daily life after Atlanta. There was
a time when getting three hours of sleep two nights in a row didn't faze me,
but times change! ::sigh:: So I was going about daily life today, spending
my lunch hour outdoors, listening to my favorite radio station, when I heard
"Wall of Death". Visions of Nanci and the BMO this past Friday evening
filled my head and I became dizzy with the memories of how Nanci ROCKED in
Atlanta. But I was pulled back to listening to the radio and wondering who
was attempting to sing this song and failing! I pulled out my trusty cell
phone (saved only for emergencies) and called information for the radio
station. Could it truly be that it WAS Nanci from OVOR2? That was what the
gentleman told me. (I never bought that CD) I assured him that Nanci gave
a wonderful performance this week and to make sure the news was passed on.
She will be performing near Columbus in a few weekends and I feared people
thinking she might not be 100%.
I spent the rest of my lunch hour in amazement at just how much Nanci has
gone through and how she has risen above it all to perform with such energy.
A few observations about the weekend in Atlanta:
(I'll leave the concert reports to the experts on this list)
-I observed Bill pinch himself on more than one occasion Friday evening to
make sure he wasn't dreaming (thank you again to all that helped make the
trip possible for Bill, I only wish you were there with us)
-Do not carry a clip board and look official when attending a NNet function,
you might be mistaken for a worker at the concert hall and not a lost and
wayward NNet member.
-Amy will be publishing her new book, "How to learn to play guitar and sing
like the professionals do in 12 easy months"
-Warning- sitting in a hotel room listening to Linda Marquez play the
hammered dulcimer can make you feel like you have gone to heaven.
-30 minutes is NOT enough time to hear talented people perform.
-There are many many talented people on this list and each time I get the
pleasure of watching them perform, I'm awed.
and last but not least:
-Steve puts on an awesome party!
It was a magical weekend,
Donna 'got to see Tish in a backyard Sunday evening' Little
_________________________________________________________________
Subject: NN: And again thanks
Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 22:34:20 -0500
From: Sarah Wrightson (sarahwrightson@vincebell.com>
To everyone in Atlanta, and Bill, Steve and Shawn, and the other kind
(bored!) list members,
It is an awkward moment if you are on a list and also perform, or
something similar. Do I just ignore, or...? But I don't think that's
right. I don't want to bore other readers, but your kind words about
not only Vince, but me, are overwhelming and we both thank you so much.
I can only hope that life and travels permit that we get to meet more of
you in this next year. If ever anyone is in Nashville, let us know, please.
"Love to me is how the lives of friends go..."
(Came to me in a dream...who the heck said or sang that...Nanette?
Grift...Bell..Van...someone, right?)
Sarah
Oh yeah...this fundraising controversy?
"Guess mechanics never really set the pace..."
_________________________________________________________________
Subject: NN: Re: New singer
Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 10:07:54 -0400
From: "Donate von Bredow-Gardner" (dvbgardner@genelogic.com>
> From: Tony Cox (tonycox@pacific.net.au>
> ..... on her newly set-up website (link below) it sounds like the sort of thing
> more than a few of us might enjoy. ....
Tony -- thanks for sharing this website with us. I used to be a huge fan of
Melanie's and I still perform some of her songs every now and then. Glad to
hear
there are others out there who remember her (or are yet to discover her).
Donate "so sorry I missed Atlanta" von Bredow-Gardner
_________________________________________________________________
Subject: NN: Re: New singer
Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2000 07:39:05 -0400
From: Tony Cox (tonycox@pacific.net.au>
Donate von Bredow-Gardner wrote:
> Tony -- thanks for sharing this website with us. I used to be a huge fan of
> Melanie's and I still perform some of her songs every now and then.
As there were two links on that email, I thought I'd better clarify that I was
referring specifically to the one for Marisha MacRae, as the *new* discovery,
but if
anyone ends up joining the Melanie list as a result, then well and good too -
it's a
feelgood place to be, so welcome Donate and any other warm-and-fuzzy-glow
seekers!
Which brings me to an interesting comparison: the last time my Inbox was as
full as
it has been lately as a result of Bill Page's misguided critics was when a
homophobe
posted a rant to the Melanie site about her performing at a gay wedding. It
seems
there's nothing unites a group of folk like a rat in the ranks!!
Tony, close to it all, from a distance...
_________________________________________________________________
Subject: NN: Re: New singer
Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 18:12:21 -0400
From: "Donate von Bredow-Gardner" (dvbgardner@genelogic.com>
Thanks, Tony. I am extremely interested in this new singer as well and will
order her CD
from that website. I was not privy to the comments people made about Bill
Page's trip
to Atlanta but certainly hope that he received an abundance of support from all
those who
were in the loop on this issue.
Donate
_________________________________________________________________
Subject: NN: Strawberry Pie
Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 10:39:07 -0400 (EDT)
From: lippert@pgh.nauticom.net
To: nanci@world.std.com
Growing up a middle class white yankee in suburban America in the 60's
was mostly Isaley's chipped ham and white bread sandwiches, Red
Skelton on tuesday nights performing through a 19" black-and-white tv
riding a top a rickety four-wheeled cart, strawberry pie in the
backyard after the 4th of July picnic, and running zig-zag across
the field after friday night high school football games. Music was
"Show Boat" or "Carrousel" or maybe Henri Mancini played on a Magnavox
console stereo in the living room while we picked at breaded pork
chops and mashed potatoes in the dining room. "Live" music was being
dragged to my sister's high school band concerts to listen to great
classical works of art sanitized down to a level that a marching band,
sitting on a stage in suits and ties and black dresses, could handle.
By high school I had discoverd my "own" music - Don McClean, Dan
Fogelberg, Three Dog Night, and music moved from the living room to my
darkened bedroom on a 15 watt Layfeyette stereo with integral turntable
and detachable speakers. Here I discovered the power of music to move
and to comfort, to release and to empower. But all of this was alone
in a 10 x 10 self-imposed cell.
College was an awakening (as it is for all of us I'm sure). I had my
first bagel and my first delivered pizza. I met people who had
accents when they spoke (unlike my pure affectation-free
Pittsburgheese), and I saw and heard actual human beings make music
before my eyes. No longer was music just something encoded on disks
of vinyl, here were real people making those same sounds and creating
those same emotions that i had experienced in the privacy of my bedroom
back home. Mostly they were frat boys with electric guitars, Jackson
Browne wannabes. Occasionally, big names would come through - the
Michael Stanley band made an appearance every year (that's for you
Ohio folks), and the whole campus would turn out. There were a few
"folk" troubadours as well who came through. I remember being amazed at
the courage it must have taken to drive a broken-down ride from
Michigan to Alliance Ohio with the back packed tight with a personal PA
system and a Guild guitar, then just set up and start singing to
strangers. After 20 years I can still hear that one chorus:
"Going through the motions.
I'm just going through the motions,
no emotions - at all."
Marriage, kids, house, job. Twenty years just disappeared. Then I
met some friends in Atlanta, and the troubadours returned. Oh we had
fun, some of us pretending we were players as well, many proving they
*did* deserve to be on that stage.
Then Vince Bell took his turn. I've never been to west Texas. Never
lost a woman across the border in Mexico. Never had to drive all
night in a chevy with the paint sand-blasted off the hood to get from
a gig in southern california to one in New Mexico - but I know how
that feels now. He's not rolling in money, he's not hob-nobbing with
Boo Spears or Madonna, hell more people probably bought "Veggie
Tales" cds than his, but that is their loss. *This* is what music
is, and *this* is what music is for, and *this* is how music should be
heard. In a small room, on a small stage, where the artist walks
right past you to get up front, and where he justs hangs out
afterwards, talks to you, and autographs your guitar with "Toke it
easy!"
As i was sitting at a four-seat table alone listening to Vince, a
handsome young guy and a gorgeous woman wandered down the row looking
for a place to sit. I caught his eye and motioned for them to sit
down. He nodded thanks and leaned back in his chair to listen. As he
crossed his legs I caught a look at his boots - they had a sharper
point on them than the steak knives did back home - but they fit right
in there in that room. He started doodling on a piece of paper with a
felt tip marker - looked like a list of some sort. Now and then he
would show the list to the woman and they would kind of nod in
agreement. He would sway to Vince's music and laugh at his
jokes. Vince finished his set, and Kevin Montgomery got up from
my table to play.
This wasn't west Texas, but it wasn't my home either. Again here were
stories of a life I would never live, but I got the experience just
the same. I wondered if this was how replicants felt. He hung around
afterwards too. When I admired his guitar he asked if I played, when
I said yes, he just handed it to me! (can i keep it?). He signed my
old Honer 6-string as well, "Fear Nothing". I wish I would have seen
those words BEFORE I climbed the stage with Amy earlier in the day. I
haven't gotten Kevin's cds yet, but I sure plan to. You should too. This
is music as intended, not background noise to mask the chewing sounds at
the dinner table, but talented, gifted, insightful people sharing
their souls with you.
Some lady named Kate sang too, I'll leave that to others to report. I
lost my memory of it when my spine melted.
kenn "without regret" lippert
_________________________________________________________________________
| kenn lippert "Reach me down my Tycho Brahe, |
| lippertNO@SPAMnauticom.net I would know him when we meet... |
| http://trfn.clpgh.org/aaap Though my soul may set in darkness, |
| it will rise in perfect light; |
| "See Kate Campbell" I have loved the stars too fondly |
| to be fearful of the night." |
| -Sarah Williams |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
_________________________________________________________________
Subject: Re: NN: Strawberry Pie
Date: Thu, 13 Jul 00 17:27:07 +0100
From: John Edward Graveling (kai21@dial.pipex.com>
Ken, [sic]
This is one of the finest pieces of writing I've read on these lists in
all my years of believing. Thanks for the vivid account and the effect
the music had on you personally. Simply stunning.
John "I appreciate good writing" Graveling
_________________________________________________________________
Subject: Re: NN: Strawberry Pie
Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 12:32:33 -0500
From: Laura Breidenbach (pray@remembered.com>
Hi Ken!! [sic]
I felt like responding with the same enthusiam. Such a wonderful
description of the same time period that I grew up.
I do hope that you write your own material for your music....you have
a grand command of the English language....it is difficult to put
together a short essay that was so vivid that I felt like I went in to
a time machine.
Thanks for the great words.
Laura Breidenbach
_________________________________________________________________
Subject: Re: NN: Strawberry Pie
Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 14:11:43 EDT
From: Tricia9999@aol.com
All I can say is Wow, Ken. [sic] Thanks for the images. I hope you put pen to
paper often.
Tricia
_________________________________________________________________
Subject: NN: Strawberry Pie
Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 15:23:34 -0400
From: darrell (r-tome@home.com>
Wow, Ken, [sic]
Darrell "in awe" Roy
_________________________________________________________________
Subject: Re: NN: Strawberry Pie
Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 11:42:03 -0700 (PDT)
From: Brett Townsend (grailman_2000@yahoo.com>
Ditto, Ken, [sic] your prose is a light in these here
woods, and a powerful statement of nostalgic
self-indulgence. Thanks a lot.
=====
_________________________________________________________________
Subject: NN: NanciNet Badges...
Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 16:56:28 GMT
From: jalvo@mbay.net (John Alvord)
Would everyone who sent in for a NN badges please let me know
privately. I moved last year and misplaced a bunch of items.
Sorry... Just send me your name and address privately
and off they will go.
John Alvord
_________________________________________________________________
Subject: NN: NanciNet Badges...
Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 22:07:54 GMT
From: jalvo@mbay.net (John Alvord)
If anyone wants to make a new order for the NN badges, just send me a
self-address stamped envelope. A large envelope can hold two buttons.
Send $2/badge in cash or US check (to me). If you are ordering from
outside the US, send $3/badge in cash (sorry no checks).
John Alvord
PO Box 396
Big Sur
Ca 93920 USA
The money is a contribution to the medical expenses encurred by Maggie
Heenie (There's a light Beyond These Woods). She had a lung transplant
in October 1998. See
http://www.candlelight.org
So far over $22,000 has been raised to pay for expenses. About 20
brave Internet friends have worked on various fundraisers. The money
is funneled through a non-profit National Foundation for Transplants,
who handle collection of the money and payment of qualified bills.
Maggie is doing OK but not great. But she is still breathing and with
us, which is a blessing.
John Alvord
_________________________________________________________________
Subject: NN: For those fond of Nanci, Alison Krauss, et al
Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 00:41:13 -0400 (EDT)
From: "David Steere, Jr." (dsteere@dellnet.com>
Judith Edelman's new cd, DRAMA QUEEN, is just out on Compass. As a fan
of her first two albums, I was nonetheless surprised at how stunning
this new work is. In a year of great and frequently brave releases
(Kasey Chambers, Carter & Grammer, Connie Dover, Valerie Smith, Ginger
Boatwright, Altan, Claire Lynch, Delores Keane), some highly anticipated
upcoming albums (Allison Moorer, Gretchen Peters), and some
disappointments (Stacey Earle, Kimmie Rhodes), DRAMA QUEEN should shine
brightly. She's used her wonderful, blue-grassy band (Matt Flinner, Ron
De La Vega, et al.) and guests (Stuart Duncan, Rob Ickes, Tim O'Brien)
and her own voice (which sounds so like Alison Krauss that it's quite
spooky) to explore the dark side of the city, working life, small towns,
dysfunctional relationships, abused children, mental illness, jealousy
and envy. Yet, the sweetness of Judith's singing, her way with a
melody, her sense of humor (often black) all combine with these gritty
subjects in a kind of oxymoronic story (with a fiddle, cello, mandolin,
bouzouki and guitar soundtrack) that is quite irresistible,
thought-provoking and oddly uplifting. Judith even adds a lovely edge
to the traditional song, "Sailor Boy." DRAMA QUEEN is unique and
unforgettable. From "Blood Reunion:"
run from drunken uncles, hide from crazy aunts
with those genes, brother, you don't have a chance
and if you ever wondered
where your overbite comes from
look around the room at everyone
blood reunion, runs in the genes
alcohol and drama queens,
blood reunion, isn't it fun
sharing DNA with everyone
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