Len Graham & Brian Hart
Tickets: $12 advance, $16 at the door.
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The Ulster Ballad Tradition with Len Graham
Len Graham is of the older generation of traditional singers from Ulster–the northern province of Ireland. His longstanding friendship with Joe Holmes and Eddie Butcher in particular impacted on Len’s repertoire and understanding of songs he had gained from singers within his own family while growing up in the Glens of Antrim. In 1971 Len won the senior All-Ireland competition in traditional singing and went on to sing with the band Skylark and collaborate with the likes of Cathal McConnell, Garry Ó Briain and Pádraigín Ní Ullacháin. He has recorded many albums and received many awards for his dedication to and academic work on the singing tradition of Ireland. Dublin’s Four Court Press has recently published Len’s work on Joe Holmes entitled Here I Are Amongst You.
The Gaelic Song Traditions of Ireland and Scotland with Brian Hart
Brian Hart is of the younger generation of singers of the sean-nós style—a singing style indicative of the Irish Gaelic speaking regions of western Ireland. His musical friendship with sean-nós singers in the States encouraged Brian to become a fluent speaker of the language by living in the Gaeltacht of western County Galway. In 2002, Brian won the senior All-Ireland competition in traditional singing and went on to earn an MA in Irish Traditional Music Performance from the University of Limerick where he was introduced to Scots Gaelic singing, becoming adept with that tradition as well. He currently tours with his band, Bua and collaborates with percussive dancers and musicians throughout North America creating new platforms to perform traditional music.
Kings of Mongrel Folk
Tickets $12 advance, $16 at the door
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Mark Graham and Orville Johnson love the magic when they play together as much as their audiences do. “People comment on that all the time,” says Orville. “They can tell we’re having a good time up there. We play on a lot of different emotions.”
Wry humor, virtuoso harmonica, soulful blues, hot pickin’ and sweet country vocals – that’s what you get when Orville and Mark combine forces as the Kings of Mongrel Folk.
Graham’s harmonica virtuosity on Irish and American fiddle tunes and his rich, woody sound on clarinet are well-known to fans of Kevin Burke’s Open House. Graham’s sardonic skewering of contemporary life, in such songs as “I Can See Your Aura and It’s Ugly” and “Zen Gospel Singing” have been cult classics for years. His songs have been recorded by many, including the Austin Lounge Lizards, Bryan Bowers, and the Limelighters.
Orville Johnson, an instrumental gunslinger whom the Seattle Times describes as “player’s player,” has a gift of finding the “secret ingredient” that makes a song sound letter-perfect, whether it’s an R & B tune from New Orleans, a country blues or a jazzy ballad. Orville’s guitar, dobro, and quavering, honeyed vocals have seasoned more than two hundred recordings, soundtracks and countless TV and radio commercials. He also produces records and teaches at events like the International Guitar Seminar and Pt. Townsend Country Blues Workshop. He has shared the stage with artists such as Doc Watson, Bonnie Raitt and John Lee Hooker.
Between the two of them, they have played many of the most coveted gigs in North America and Europe: the Newport Folk Festival and Caffe Lena, out East; South by Southwest, in Texas; the Bay area’s Freight and Salvage and Kuumbwa; London’s Festival Hall and Glasgow’s Celtic Connections Festival, in Europe;and on their home turf, Bumbershoot and the NW Folklife Festival. Though they were longtime acquaintances on the Northwest folk scene, it was at a Folklife Festival jam session in 1991 that they hatched their plan to expand their kingdom of mongrel folk nationwide and, yes, even worldwide. Wherever they go, their performances and recordings have inspired raves:
“Performed with taste and skill and boosted by the nuttiness of Graham’s songs” - Sing Out
“Great songwriting, singing and playing” - Dirty Linen
MaMuse
Tickets: $14 advance, $18 at the door
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MaMuse: (Ma as in Mamma; Muse as in the one who inspires) “Beautiful Harmonies woven into a tapestry of strings and stillness.”
The songs of MaMuse are love poems to the Earth. They also speak to the depths of one’s own inner terrain. MaMusic stirs the heart through deep soul felt lyrics and sparse supportive instrumentation. Sarah and Karisha together create original music that breathes. Tight vocal harmonies ring out a Capella or blend with upright bass, mandolin, guitar, flute, light percussion and finger snaps to deliver the gift of joyful truth telling.
The encouragement and support of their hometown Chico, California community (MaMuse has received awards two years in a row from local voting music enthusiasts for Best New Act, Best Folk Act and Best Local Act) has provided the strength for the “rootsy female wonder duo” of MaMuse to make her way out into the world, touring regions across the country as well as establishing a strong presence through the Bay Area and Northern California.
Celebrating her second year of Being and sharing, MaMuse delights in this year’s 2010 Spring and Summer invitations: Chico Bicycle Music Festival, Davis Whole Earth Festival, California World Music Festival, Esalen International Arts Festival, Kate Wolf Memorial Music Festival, Mystic Family Garden Party and the American River Music Festival.
Beginning July 31st, MaMuse will set out with the support of friends to promote their second full-length album Strange and Wonderful. The tour will begin in Shasta, CA and meander northward through Oregon and Washington. In Seattle, MaMuse will continue their adventurous Northwest tour by bicycle, ferrying across the Puget Sound and sharing their music through the San Juan Islands. Bicylces support the journey for MaMuse whenever possible, as they have pedaled their bodies and instruments from their homes in Chico to the World Music Festival (Grass Valley, CA), the Whole Earth Festival (Davis, CA) and the Bicycle Music Festival (San Francisco, CA).
The essence of MaMuse is rooted in the transparency of a journey shared by two women who feel a lot and dare to express their experiences through song and story. ”As a community we are all strengthened when even one of us discovers his or her voice and dares to share. We dare you to sing with us. We dare you to discover your own song.” (Karisha)
“Mamuse is what a meadow would sound like if it could sing.”
Cancelled – Gabrielle Louise
Please note: This concert has been cancelled due to a family emergency. Advance ticketholders will receive a full refund. We apologize for the inconvenience!
Gabrielle Louise’s music is anchored deeply in folk, but undeniably drawn to rich harmonies and melodic adventurism. Her sound has the earthy feel of early Joni Mitchell while also veering into the spirited delivery of fellow genre-hopping artist Martin Sexton. Unafraid to take a random musical escapade in the name of inspiration, Gabrielle is at one moment folkie and ethereal, the next moment a smoky jazz chanteuse. She has 100% independently released four records, Journey (2006), Around in Circles, the E.P. (2007), Cigarettes for Sentiments (2008), and Live in Coal Creek Canyon (2009).
Gabrielle’s music has been best appreciated in listening atmospheres with introspective, attentive crowds. She strives to communicate more through soul than special effect and gently entices her listener to release their grip on the status quo. In a music industry that tends to view its artists as either super-stars or failures, Gabrielle aims to break the trend by offering her creative personality as-is, a professional presentation of her private journaling.
As a performer and songwriter, Gabrielle has made a commitment towards the environment. In 2007, she released a single, “Save the Arkansas” that seeks to bring awareness to a dire environmental situation that is threatening the health and safety of the Arkansas River Watershed. Having both grown up and worked as a raft guide on the Arkansas, maintaining the purity of its waters is very important to her.
Recently, Gabrielle has been getting deeply involved in the world of alternative fueling. She tours in a Veggie Van, affectionately dubbed “Vita,” using what would be thrown out restaurant grease to fuel the tour vehicle! Gabrielle Louise and her tour manager, Chris Garre give workshops along the way, explaining to interested environmentalists how the technology works to convert and run a vehicle on used grease.
Molly’s Revenge
Tickets: $12 advance, $16 at the door.
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Molly’s Revenge is a dynamic, acoustic Celtic band known for its unique and infectious on-stage enthusiasm. The classic combination of bagpipes, whistle, fiddle, and song — set against a backdrop of guitar, bouzouki, and mandola accompaniment — guarantees an enjoyable experience for all fans of Scottish and Irish music. Their arrangements of traditional jigs and reels bring these dance tunes up to date with a driving, hard-edged accent that always leaves audiences shouting for more.
From epic sets on highland pipes and fiddle, to angelic folk songs over bouzouki and mandola, to ripping sets of Irish jigs and reels, the lads of Molly’s Revenge have expanded their range on their seventh release, “The Western Shore.” The new record was produced by John Doyle, a founding member of Irish supergroup Solas. Guest performers include percussionist Fraser Stone (Old Blind Dogs), John Doyle, and vocalist Moira Smiley (VOCO).
David Brewer has been playing whistle and four types of bagpipes for about 15 years. He studied in Scotland at the Ceolas Music School in South Uist under the tutelage of some of the best pipers in the world. His authentic and unique style of playing has earned him the reputation of being one of the most accomplished pipers on the West Coast. David has composed close to 200 traditional style tunes, many of which have appeared on recordings, independent films, and television.
John Weed is a classically-trained violinist who switched to playing Irish fiddle about 10 years ago. John lived in Ireland in 2000 and taught fiddle workshops at the Flowing Tide International Music School in Doonbeg, County Clare. He hones his skills annually by attending the Frankie Kennedy Winter School in Dunlewey, County Donegal where he has studied with Ciaran O’Maonaigh and Dermot Mcloughlin.
Pete Haworth grew up in the Blackburn area of Lancashire County, England, where he collected and sang the local folk songs. He brings an authentic vocal style, a very big bouzouki, and an unflagging sense of humour to the band. He and his family moved to California in 1982.
Stuart Mason has been collecting and performing traditional music for over 30 years. He has appeared on stage from Ireland to China performing Celtic, old time bluegrass, and his original compositions, which have won awards from the West Coast Songwriters Association. He leads workshops and classes in traditional music techniques at music festivals and camps.
The Honeycutters
Tickets: $13 advance, $15 at the door.
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The Honeycutters are singer/songwriter Amanda Anne Platt and guitarist/ producer Peter James. While their sound has drawn comparisons to such artists as Graham Parsons and Emmylou Harris or Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Platt and James produce a refreshingly unique blend of Americana music that is comfortingly familiar while being entirely original. Ω
Their first full length studio release Irene (May 2009) was recorded at Asheville’s own Collapseable Studio, and mixed by Grammy Award winning sound engineer David Fergason ( Nashville TN ) . The album has garnered radio support across the USA as well as overseas, and landed them in Iaan Hughes’ (No Depression Podcast) top twenty of 2009, Fret Knot Radio Hour’s “Nine to Know from ‘09″, and as number 32 in WNCW’s listener voted top 100.
Amanda Anne Platt has been hailed as “one of the best songwriters coming out of WNC these days” by WNCW programming director Martin Anderson, and her voice has been described as “perfectly unadorned” and “recklessly beautiful”. Her lyrics are as catchy and heartbreaking as her melodies. Dane Smith of Asheville NC’s Mountain Xpress writes “Her songs make you sad…in a good way!” In both her simple composition and honest delivery it’s easy to hear the influence of country legends such as Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, or Loretta Lynn, and with this Miss Platt credits growing up listening to her Father’s extensive record collection every Saturday morning. Despite her love for classic country, she cites Bruce Springstein as one of her biggest influences and her songwriting carries a wit and an edge that plants her firmly in her generation.
Peter James is rapidly becoming one of Western North Carolina’s most sought after guitar players, known for both insightful solos and tasteful accompaniment. Having first held a guitar at age thirteen, he quickly started making up for lost time by delving completely into the instrument. His natural talent and attention to detail made him an asset to The Slant Six Cowboys, a New Hampshire based group founded by James and singer/songwriter Don Witcher out of their long time musical collaboration. In 2004 they released a self-titled album on 95 North records which reached number 14 on the AMA chart. Since moving to Asheville in 2006 James has played right-hand man to several of the region’s top acts, including Taylor Martin and Brian McGee.
Like so many of country music’s great duos, Platt and James have a musical chemistry that can be felt throughout the songs they play, from the sounds of their guitars to their vocal harmonies. Perhaps this is why they are frequently mentioned along with the movement to “Take country music back to it’s roots”. The Honeycutters are just doing what they know how to do: making music that feels as good to hear as it does to play. Their original brand of Americana has proven equally appealing to both the musician and the music lover, the country and the city, and the old and the young.
“If anyone can make this old metalhead want to whip out the cowboy boots and hat, order a couple of Budweisers and spin my woman around the dance floor, the Honeycutters can.” -Brent Fleury, Bold Life Magazine
“Old school country in the truest sense, “Irene” is free of twang and ten-gallon hats but full of real emotion, family history, quick wit and strong liquor.” -Ali Marshall, Arts and Entertainment, Mt Xpress
“Amanda Anne Platt is easily one of the best songwriters coming out of Western NC these days, and she really needs to be discovered by the national Americana world. Her moving delivery, accompanied by Pete James’ tasteful guitar work and harmonies, make The Honeycutters an act that really should not be missed. We can’t stop playing their CD “Irene” here at WNCW!” – Martin Anderson, Music Director WNCW
Cahalen Morrison & Eli West w/ Shaun Cromwell
Tickets: $8 advance, $10 at the door.
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Cahalen Morrison is not like many other 20-something musicians out there. He is genuinely old-time, but from a region (rural New Mexico) not often associated with a thriving string-band music scene. His multi-instrumental and songwriting talents were developed in small circles, privately, over many years, far outside the mainstream. He shows definite influences of kindred old spirits like Norman Blake, Greg Brown, and Doc Watson that were obviously instilled at a young age and not picked up in a “back-to-acoustic” fad. But he is very much his own man, traveling and playing with a determined Western independence and an easy hospitality towards those he encounters along the way.
And so it was that along came Eli West - another unique twenty-something who came by this music more circuitously, but sharing the same authenticity and Western spirit – and their mutual musical easy-goingness found some common ground in which wonderful things grow. The roots are strong, the branches are shady, and the guitars, banjos, mandolins and voices carry you far off the beaten path to a Good Place out under open Western skies.
“A Suzuki Violin kid that took a left turn early on, Eli West has been a busy multi-instrumentalist since, sitting in with members of the Wailin Jenny’s, Crooked Still, Michelle Shocked, and others. He was the voice and guitar behind the Seattle-based Loose Digits, and now finds it quite comfortable to be in a duo with Cahalen.
A Los Angeles-based singer/writer of eclectic roots-inspired songs, Shaun Cromwell uses his guitar, banjo, and voice to weave tales of intrigue and epics of sorrow. He draws heavily from the pantheon of American roots traditions, but infuses the music with more contemporary influences such as Bill Frisell, Lowell George, and Tom Waits.
“Shaun Cromwell has the unmistakable sound of someone who has put in the time and the heart, someone who has truly got inside the music.”
- Peter Mulvey: Singer-Songwriter
Sid Selvidge & Amy Speace
Tickets: $20 advance / door.
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Sid Selvidge has had a musical career as expansive as the Mississippi Delta — and as true to his roots as the bluesmen of yesteryear. Leaving his home in Greenville, Mississippi, Sid moved to Memphis at an early age, studying and performing with legendary bluesmen like Furry Lewis and Mississippi Fred McDowell at the famous Bitter Lemon Club. With a knack for the southern tradition of storytelling, Selvidge swiftly adapted their picking styles and incorporated them into his distinctive fusion of country, blues, folk, and rock.
Soon his music began to catch the attention of those outside the Bluff City, who took notice of his ability to integrate classic methods into unique singing and playing approaches. “Sid Selvidge, who comes from Mississippi by way of Memphis, is neither country nor rock,” said John Rockwell of the New York Times. “He’s pretty much everything musically in the whole Southeast.” While still in school at Washington University, Sid recorded his debut LP, Portrait, which was released by Enterprise Records, a subsidiary of Stax. Thereafter, he traveled to New York and captivated audiences from Carnegie Hall to Lincoln Center, garnering rave reviews. “His voice is an astonishing instrument,” raved New York Times writer Robert Palmer. “Cool and liquid with a range of several octaves.”
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By this time, major labels were making offers, resulting in a deal whereby Elektra released his Twice Told Tales as a part of the Nonesuch Records “American Explorer Series.” When not working on solo records, Selvidge was a member of Mudboy and the Neutrons with cofounder and close friends Jim Dickinson, Lee Baker, and Jimmy Crosthwait. Selvidge and Dickinson would collaborate on numerous projects throughout their enduring friendship, but the 3 Mudboy albums were among the most original of that partnership. Bob Dylan even referred to them as “the great band that nobody can find.”
While living in Memphis during this time, Selvidge also taught anthropology at Rhodes College and helped found Beale Street Caravan, an internationally syndicated blues radio program heard on over 500 stations around the world. Even with his performance and recording career, Selvidge still remains heavily involved at BSC, serving as executive producer since its founding. In 2002 Selvidge signed to Memphis label Archer Records, which released A Little Bit of Rain the following year. Recording was a family affair, with Selvidge’s son, Steve (The Hold Steady) joining on guitar, along with Jim Dickinson on keys and his son, Luther (North Mississippi Allstars, Black Crowes) on slide guitar, and old pal Jimmy Crosthwait on washboard. Upon hearing the record, David Fricke of Rolling Stone couldn’t hold back his praise, declaring emphatically “Sid Selvidge is a precious treasure.”
“I kind of spilled blood all over this project,” Amy Speace says of her new album The Killer In Me, which marks a quantum creative leap from the artist’s 2006 breakthrough effort Songs For Bright Street. While that release won her widespread critical acclaim and a loyal international fan base, The Killer In Me finds the New York‐based singer/songwriter forging into deeper, darker lyrical and musical terrain, borne largely out of the dissolution of her 10‐ year marriage. “This is the record that I needed to make,” Speace states. “In many ways, it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. And in some ways, it was the easiest. Writing the songs was emotionally difficult, deep and intense‐‐it was kind of an exorcism. But in the end, the songs flowed pretty quickly. You write the things that you’re afraid to say out loud.”
The Killer In Me’s 12 soul‐baring new songs maintain the effortless melodic appeal of her prior work, while delivering complex emotional insights that give the album startling intimacy and resonance. “The Killer In Me” chronicles a strangled co‐dependent relationship, while “Haven’t Learned A Thing” offers absolution for the continuing struggle in the attempt to connect with another and never getting it completely right. “This Love” speaks to the hope and uncertainty that comes with the onset of a new relationship. The album covers more terrain than romantic relationships, closing with “Piece By Piece,” written as a prayer to her father, wishing him peace and love after the death of his brother.
Most of the album was written in the rural isolation of a rented cabin in the Catskills after her final separation from her husband. “It was just me, some books, my journals, my guitar and the songs, with no phone and no TV,” she explains. “I spent a lot of time reading and hiking and chopping wood for the stove, and wrote the songs that form the emotional center of this album.” “The situation,” she continues, “forced me to sit with a lot of silence, fear and confusion and make a kind of peace with them by writing songs to keep from going crazy. That’s when the album started making sense to me and became a whole different thing. Something shifted when I realized what was going on in the world outside mirrored what was going on inside of me, and I wanted to write songs that bridged that divide.”
CANCELED – Ian Ethan
Please note – due to unforseen circumstances, Ian Ethan’s show for Friday, June 25th has been cancelled.
We hope to reschedule for later in the fall!
Advance ticket-holders: We apologize for the inconvenience this cancellation causes you! You will be receiving a refund on your credit card (including the service fee) through Brown Paper Tickets. Please contact me at michael@emptysea.com with any questions!
Acoustic Double-Neck Guitarist Ian Ethan’s new album “Into Open Land” is an exploration of the largely untraversed musical territory that this unique 18-string instrument provides access to.
Unveiling the true musical potential of an instrument that has previously seen little serious use as more than a stage prop, the Vermont artist employs a wide variety of highly-innovative playing techniques that take full advantage of 18 strings, two fretboards, and his experience as a drummer, bassist, pianist, and composer.
The nine-part musical whole of “Into Open Land”, more than simply validating the use of the instrument, is the beginning of an epic journey through pristine worlds that present to the alert and engaged listener countless intriguing gems of fresh insight and inspiring, expansive views of a world that is tangibly deeper and more infinite than our physical surroundings.
Solo pieces such as “Appalachia By Air” and “North By Northeast / One Straight Line” simultaneously intertwine drumset-like percussive ideas and groovy bass lines with inventive melodies and counter-melodies, always supported by a rich, colorful, three-dimensional harmonic context.
Meanwhile “band” tracks such as “Fourth Corner” and “Call of the Hill” (featuring Ethan’s overdubbed self-accompaniment on drumset, electric bass, percussion, and multiple double-necks) present an even more powerful and complete view of these highly detailed, multi-layered compositions.
Tying the whole album together is an unpretentious and consistently adventurous spirit that steers clear altogether of “The Road Less Traveled” and heads straight out into open land, where one has the freedom to explore and discover without limits, and thereby realize more of what has always been.
Myk Gordon
Tickets: $13 advance, $15 door.
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For singer-songwriter Myk Gordon and Grammy-award winning producer Steve Berlin (Los Lobos, Jackie Greene), the magic in their recent musical collaboration, SET FREE, is the result of a winning combination of stellar songwriting, unbeatable supporting talent, and irrepressible vision.
“The whole project has been amazing,” says Berlin. “It has certainly been one of the best I can remember, in terms of everyone coming together, capturing the moment, getting great performances quickly.”
In an abandoned Masonic temple in North Portland, Gordon, Berlin, engineer/bassist Jim Brunberg (Box Set), guitarist Paul Rigby and pedal steel player Jon Rauhouse (Jakob Dylan, Neko Case, Calexico, New Pornographers), and drummer Drew Shoals (Pat Monahan of Train) put their considerable creative prowess to work on 10 tracks for SET FREE.
“…[SET FREE] is nothing short of a classic country-soul tour de force.”
Francois Marchand, Vancouver Sun (click to see full article)
“Gordon’s finest songs ever. The new country/soul sound is perfect for his smart, hurtin’ songs. A career peak.”
-Stuart Derdyn, The Province
Gordon, who hails from Vancouver, B.C., has built a respected following over a span of six independent releases for having “a steady hand when mixing pop, folk, emotion and intelligence,” (Toronto Star). He is an “accomplished performer” (TimeOut, London) who has shared stages with artists including Emmylou Harris, Ron Sexsmith and Joan Osborne.
