// I've been holding off on this digest, waiting on the annual
// April Fool's post from Kimbro, but it hasn't shown up yet...
// Enjoy! [BP]

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Subject: NN: Paul Hester
    From: Tony Cox [tonycox@pacific.net.au]
    Sent: Monday, March 28, 2005 7:19 AM

Admirers of 1990's Aussie/NZ band Crowded House (I know there are a few
Neil Finn fans on this list) will be saddened to hear that drummer Paul
Hester took his own life (at age 46) this Easter weekend.  He hanged
himself in a park in Melbourne (his home town).  No reports as to the
reason have emerged yet - everyone remembers him as a cheerful and
popular bloke.

Tony

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Subject: RE: NN: Are we here?
    From: Robert Pugsley [robertpugsley@hotmail.com]
    Sent: Thursday, March 31, 2005 3:35 PM

I'm here!

'Are we here?' is an excellent track by UK techno merchants Orbital - I
thought Bill's listening habits were going of on a tangent!

Also: Can anyone confirm that Nanci phoned up Radio 2 (here in the UK)
to guess a mystery voice?!
Apparently she got it wrong.

All the best from somewhere outside Leicester, England.

Ned


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Subject: RE: NN: Are we here?
    From: Reid Mitchell [reidmitchell@yahoo.com]
    Sent: Thursday, March 31, 2005 4:12 PM

I'm here, sorta lost in my own little world....

Reid Mitchell


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Subject: NN: Mary Gauthier - Mercy Now
    From: JAMES WARD [jward39212@yahoo.com]
    Sent: Thursday, March 31, 2005 4:31 PM


I was just wondering have any of my fellow
Nancinetters discovered the unique writing and singing
of Mary Gauthier?  She recently released a new disc on
Lost Highway Records entitled "Mery Now".  Also, she
has opened for Nanci and the Blue Moon Orchestra on
several dates.  Will be opening for Willie Nelson on
some dates in the UK.  I think she is great!  My
advice is for each of you to check her music out!

James


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Subject: RE: NN: Are we here?
    From: John Courtney [jc_riselaw@hotmail.com]
    Sent: Friday, April 01, 2005 5:36 AM


"Robert Pugsley" asked:
> Can anyone confirm that Nanci phoned up Radio 2
> (here in the UK) to guess a mystery voice?!
> Apparently she got it wrong.

Yes, she phoned the Johnny Walker programme on Wednesday. It was
Walker's 60th birthday and she called the (normally very tedious IMO)
Guess The Mystery Voice segment of the show, pretending to be Nancy
Jones, a schoolteacher from somewhere near Manchester.
Quite amusing but Walker obviously recognised her voice immediately and
didn't make very much of it. It might have been really funny if he had
pushed her to see how far she would take the deception.
It's a pretty trivial thing but if you have nothing better to do, you
can hear it by going to:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/walker/ and clicking on "Listen Again
- WED". It is about an hour and 15 to 20 minutes into the programme.

All the best
John.

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Subject: NN: Singing Songwriters DVD
From: Steve Robertson [stever@mindspring.com]
Sent: Friday, April 01, 2005 7:26 AM

This DVD is produced by a German company and consists mainly of footage
from Austin City Limits - including "Tecumseh Valley" from Nanci. Also
all the usual suspects - Emmylou, Patty Griffin, Steve Earle, etc., etc.
The video is not as sharp and clear as you expect from a DVD. Looks like
they obtained their master by taping the ACL shows off the air (g> But
the audio's fine.

This DVD is in the PAL format and thus is not distributed in the U.S.
Before I knew it was PAL, I asked a European friend to buy me a copy.
When it arrived, it wouldn't work in my DVD player. But before giving up
on it, I tried playing it in my Macintosh computer's DVD drive. To my
great surprise, it worked perfectly!

So the moral is: if you live in the U.S. and you've been wishing you
could buy some European DVDs, just get yourself a Mac. Probably works on
Windows computers with a DVD drive, but I don't have any way to test it.

Steve R.

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Subject: Roots On The Rails
    From: "Vicki Martel" (vicki.martel@rogers.com>
    Sent: Thursday, March 31, 2005 11:09 AM

On Friday night, we went into Toronto to see Tom Russell and Andrew
Hardin at Hugh's Room www.hughsroom.com. Tom, Gretchen Peters, Mary
Gauthier, and our Miss Nanci are part of Roots On The Rails, and Nanci
was not on the  list to play at Hugh's, but we were hopeful. Her 9/11/01
concert was cancelled for obvious reasons and has still not been
rescheduled three and a half years later, so we were really hoping we'd
hear even one song!

We arrived shortly after 6, and my husband and I dithered as to whether
the woman in the long, beige coat, smoking outside, was Nanci. The place
was packed, and we waited awhile to get seated, then helped the kids
order then found them the washrooms. She walked by us, and I was certain
it was Nanci. I checked the CD table, but there was nothing from her,
and she was nowhere to be seen. And that was the last we saw of her, if
it was her. :(

Tom and Andrew opened, then were joined by Gretchen. Sylvia Tyson came
on for a song. Then Gretchen and Mary each did a short solo set. After
the break, Tom, Gretchen, and Mary performed individually, then Ramblin'
Jack Elliot came on, and the Cowboy Poet (?Paul Ryzinski?). Throughout
the evening, many jokes were made about the rabid fans, and being
ensconced on the train with these people! Just before the end of the
show, Tom mentioned the Roots On The Rails train again, and reminded
everyone that all of the performers, along with Nanci Griffith who was
resting, would be on the train. Then they all sang Four Strong Winds as
the closing number, though it was clear that Mary, Jack, and a few
others didn't know the song.

I love Hugh's Room. Tom, Gretchen, and Mary were entertaining. But it
would have been nice to see Nanci. She's not listed as performing in BC
either, once they arrive. I wonder if she did. Anyone know?

Vicki



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Subject: Nancy Jones, Mary, Kate and the washing up
    From: ConorMG@aol.com
    Date: Fri, 1 Apr 2005 15:24:56 EST

I'm glad we're here still,  even if Bill has had to ping us, Ned has
taken over Robert, and Reid is in an alternative world.  And isn't it
wonderful that we have people like John to listen to phone-in
programmes for us for spottings of Nanci.

James has just mentioned one of the unacknowledged greats.  Mary
Gauthier is among the most wonderful singers of recent years.  I think
people might have a grim impression of her for three reasons. On the BBC
they  keep playing a song in which she acts like an alcoholic.  Her
photos are  the opposite of the sadly shiny, polished ones you see of
the likes of Lee  Ann Womack and Alison Krauss. And her best known cds
are called  'Drag Queens and Limousines' and 'Filth and Fire'.   But she
writes songs that make you gasp, and sings them with a  precision that
has you listening intently.  She sees modern life  frankly but with wry
irony, and she lifts you up far higher than other singers  partly
because she has taken you lower to begin with.  She is more  humorous,
more literary and more grown-up than most other songwriters, in that she
deals with serious issues in a delicately nuanced  range of narratives,
characters and situations, and all with great tunes  and arrangements.

She is in my top...hang on, Nanci,  Mindy, Tifty, Beth, Gretchen, Lee
Ann, Kim, Alison, Allison,  Alllison...my top ten!  Of the last thirty
years anyway.

I saw Mary at the wonderful Soul Cafe in Maidstone,  Kent,  where  I've
also swooned in the last year over Beth Nielsen Chapman and Gretchen
Peters.  The place itself isn't one to wear your best clothes to (the
floor is sticky for one thing),  but the organisers do a fantastic job
in drawing in many of the best names from America.  It needs supporting
though. There is a carpark
very near, you can eat and drink there,  and booking is  cheap and easy.

On Wednesday we had the thrill of seeing Kate Campbell and Will
Kimbrough there. What a privilege!  If you  haven't seen either, race
out and catch them on tour, as they are better than they're cracked up
to be, and together they are magic.
As ever at these concerts, my partner has fallen in love with the
guitarist,  so I'm doing a lot of the washing up this week.

Conor

np Gina Villalobos

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Subject: NN: Re: Roots On The Rails (and an unconnected problem)
    From: Susan Cane [susan@susancane.co.uk]
    Sent: Friday, April 01, 2005 2:40 PM

Vicki,

Nanci was at Hugh's Room for a bit, before the concert started; she was
on the train, but she wasn't at the Vancouver concert.  The cowboy poet
at Hugh's Room was Paul Zarzyski.

Now for the unconnected problem, and I don't know if anybody can help.
I'm trying to join the forum on Nanci's website, because it seems that
somebody who's already a member was trying to get in touch with me
around the middle of last month.  The only way I can send this person an
e-mail is for me to join the forum myself, and that's proving to be very
difficult...

When I try to register I get a blank form to complete.  The form asks
for (amongst other things) my e-mail address, password, and then
confirmation of my password, but nowhere is there space for me to enter
a username.  When I click the "submit" button I'm told that "this
username has been disallowed" - even though I couldn't enter one in the
first place.  It happens with Internet Explorer, Moxilla and Netscape. I
also had this same problem a few months ago, when I first tried to join
- yet it seems that plenty of new people have managed to register since
then.

Does anybody know what's going wrong and how I can fix it?

Thanks!

Susan


*** e-mail: susan@susancane.co.uk ***
*** website: www.susancane.co.uk ***

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Subject: NN: Christine Collister tour (no Nanci content)
    From: Graham Shipley [gshipley@perioikos.u-net.com]
    Sent: Monday, March 28, 2005 11:19 PM

Fellow NNetters in the UK may be interested in Christine Collister's
dates  for 2005. Sorry it's all in capitals---that's how it came to me.
I've edited it slightly, and hope the references to the Dave Kelly band
are correct. For more details, contact info@christinecollister.com.

Dates are in UK format (day, month, year).

Graham
===
FRI 01/04/05 THE FARM, SKEGNESS   -   01754 871 445
SAT 02/04/05 RED LION, KINGS HEATH   -   0121 472 4253
FRI 08/04/05 TOWER ARTS, WINCHESTER   -   01962 867 986
FRI 15/04/05 THE ENT SHED, BEDFORD   -   01234 364 997
MON 18/04/05 CHEQUER MEAD, EAST GRINSTEAD   -   01342 302 0000
THURS 21/04/05 BIDDULPH FOLK CLUB, BIDDULPH ARMS   -   01782 514 4896
SAT 23/04/05 THE THEATRE, CHIPPING NORTON   -   01608 642 350

CC ON TOUR WITH THE DAVE KELLY BAND!
[some of these dates fill gaps in the series above]
THURS 7/04/05 KOMEDIA BRIGHTON Dave Kelly Band/CC  -   01273 647100
SAT 09/04/05 THEATRE ON THE STEPS, Bridgnorth   -   01746 763 257
WED 25/05/05 ASHCROFT ARTS CENTRE, TORRINGTON   -   01329 310600
TUE 05/05/05 On BBC Radio 2 Paul Jones' Blues Show with Dave Kelly
SUN 08/05/05 MADDERMARKET THEATRE, NORWICH   -   01603 620 917
WED 11/05/05 LANDMARK ARTS, TEDDINGTON   -   0208 977 7558
THUR 12/05/05 THE GRAND THEATRE STUDIO, BLACKPOOL   -   01253 290 190
SAT 14/05/05 WIMBOURNE, TIVOLI THEATRE   -   01202 885566
TUES 17/05/05 PILLAR ROOMS, CHELTENHAM   -   01242 227979
WED 18/05/05 WINDSOR ARTS CENTRE   -   01753 859336
THURS 19/05/05 THE STABLES, WAVENDON   -   01908 280800
FRI  20/05/05 SWINDON ARTS CENTRE   -   01793 614837
SAT 21/05/05 CRANLEIGH ARTS CENTRE   -   01483 278000
SUN 22/05/05 PLOUGH ARTS CENTRE, TORRINGTON   -   01805 624624
WED 25/05/05 ASHCROFT ARTS CENTRE, TORRINGTON   -   01329 310600
THURS 26/05/05 CINNAMON CLUB, ALTRINGHAM   -   0161 9268992
FRI 27/05/05 EBBW VALE, BEAUFORT THEATRE   -   01495 302112
SAT 28/05/05 METS ARTS CENTRE, BURY   -   0161 7612216

Some dates for Autumn 2005...
FRI 30/005 [I assume that means 30/9/05] BRIDGEWATER ARTS,
SOMERSET  -   01278 422 700
TUES 04/10/05 THE VILLAGE HALL, CHERRY BURTON   -   01964 551 145
THURS 06/10/05 BLACK SWAN FOLK CLUB, YORK   -   01904 632 922
THURS 13/10/05 NORWICH ARTS CENTRE   -   01603 660 387
FRI 14/10/05 UNICORN PUB, CAMBRIDGE FOLK CLUB   -   01223 262 775
TUES 15/10/05 PLAYHOUSE 2, SHAW OLDHAM  -  01701 847 494
SAT 29/10/05 JERSEY ARTS CENTRE   -   01534 700 444
SUN 30/10/05 QUAY ARTS CENTRE, ISLE OF WIGHT   -   01983 528 825
FRI 04/11/05 TOWN HALL, HIGH WYCOMBE   -   01494 512 000
THURS 24/11/05 ROTHBURY ROOTS, MORPETH   -   01669 620 435
FRI 25/11/05 THE BEIN INN, GLENFARG   -   01577 830 216
SAT 26/11/05 THE SALMON INN, GALASHIELS   -   01750 205 538

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