It was by experiencing it that filmmakers Matt and Erica Hinton first struck on the idea to document the tradition and its modern day practitioners. �It became my desire for others to experience this moment as well,� he says on their website, �And so, if no one else was willing to step up and make a movie so I can blow my friends’ minds, I suppose we must do it.� He also notes that documentary filmmakers are often told to stay objective, but their desire was to convey the emotion attached to Sacred Harp singing.
Sacred Harp singing, or shape note singing as it is also known, is one of the earliest known music traditions with roots that can be traced to 11th century Italy where a monk devised a method to teach the sight reading by incorporating a scale using syllables. In the late 1600�s this notation came in to play in Europe as people tried to reform the music used in worship.
In the 1700�s singing schools were established throughout the New England area to help people learn music. (These singing schools still continue in one form or another today. They were still very prevalent in rural communities in the early 1900�s and offered exposure to music to such notables as the Carter Family and Bill Monroe.) A four syllable note scale was devised (as opposed to the normal seven) and two music teachers, William Smith and William Little added corresponding shapes to the notes to aid in recognition.
The music form of shape note singing did not follow the �accepted� rules of European music and was looked down upon as backward and undignified by the immigrants who were arriving en masse to the New England area. This forced the tradition, which at that time was beginning to take a hold of the area, Southward and Westward with the expansion of the States. As the tradition grew in the South, so did the proliferation of songbooks for use, the most enduring, The Sacred Harp, was published in Georgia in 1844.
The Hintons enlist the talents and memories of several people who have grown up in the Sacred Harp tradition in the film to tell the story of its creation and growth. One of them is Jim Carnes who discovered Sacred Harp singing in his teens and is also a filmmaker on the subject as well as the author of one hymn in the current edition of The Sacred Harp. Carnes gives, to me, the best reason as to why the Sacred Harp tradition continues to survive even against such obstacles as the �Better Music Movement� from Europe and the popularity of Gospel music: �It�s a formidable example of communal, shared artistic creation that is rare to the point of non-existence in many peoples� lives; Many people walking around today experience art only as consumers.�
To participate in Sacred Harp singing one does not have to be a trained vocalist or even adept at sight reading music. It is different from the choral-type singing done in most congregations in that it is not designed for one part to be quieted while another part takes over, Sacred Harp is meant to be full-throated, full volume singing in unison. In a Singing (the name for an event where the singers gather for the day), there is a leader in the Hollow Square. To the leaders left are the trebles, behind are the altos, on the right are the basses, and in front are the tenors. The leader beats time with a hand keeping everyone together. The song finishes and it�s on to the next leader � no applause, it is not a performance. Inside the hollow square is the best place to experience the singing because all four parts are coming directly at you.
A Singing can last from a couple of hours to an All-Day Singing, that includes another aspect of the tradition, Dinner on the Grounds (a pitch-in meal which gives the participants time to meet newcomers and catch up with regulars), which can cover anywhere from 90 to 100 songs.
Awake, My Soul does a great job of explaining the history behind the tradition giving an overview of each of the phases the tradition has gone through from the 1700�s to the Folk Revival interest in it in the 1960�s. The information is presented compactly (the film clocks in at 1 hour 15 minutes), but entertainingly with the help of amateur Sacred Harp historian John Plunkett in writing and the editing of Jennifer Brooks (with narrator Jim Lauderdale). The Hintons craft a film which uses the narratives of people who have been involved with the tradition to give it skin, people such as the entertaining and informative Raymond Hamrick, a 91 year old watch repairman who has been involved since childhood, even penning 6 songs in the newest revision of The Sacred Harp. Or Hugh McGraw who in the Seventies, with a small group, traveled the country giving exhibitions on college campuses and thus sparking interest in yet another generation and has penned 8 songs in The Sacred Harp.
The film, and subject matter, is fascinating and informative. Traditions such as Sacred Harp singing run the risk of dying out, but filmmakers like the Hintons do a great service to the American musical, and historical, communities by fanning the embers to cause interest in this tradition to continue to burn brightly.
Find our more here: www.awakemysoul.com
Oct
06
2006
Oct
05
2006
Category : Features
I ask her how that feels as she laughs, �That feels pretty good actually,� she says as a smile widens on her face, �I mean, I don�t pay that much attention to chart stuff, you know, but all those people I�m up there with are certainly some of my favorite musicians, so for that reason I feel honored.�
Carrie�s life has been filled with the kind of life altering experiences that would leave anyone breathless. Carrie�s path of good fortune began at a very early age as she first began to play violin at age 5. Her talent and determination lead her to enroll at Oberlin College Conservatory of Music in Ohio. A bit removed from her Austin birthplace, the rigors of classical violin began to wear on her as she continued her studies: �You have to be willing to put in eight hours a day of practicing and you�re playing things that have been played a million times and it�s been played extremely well and for me there wasn�t a lot of room to grow with that and be creative, so I was unhappy there.�
She faced the decision that many college students face � to continue on with something she was falling out of love with or take a step of faith. A Lyle Lovett concert in nearby Cleveland became one of those life-altering experiences that helped to make that decision for her. Lovett, a family friend, invited Rodriguez to sit in with the band during a pre-show rehearsal. After that experience Carrie transferred to Berklee College of Music in Boston.
Berklee�s focus on contemporary music appealed to her as she began to shed some of her more classical training. Growing up, Carrie�s focus was primarily on classical violin, but other styles were always on her radar. �I guess growing up in Texas I�d always dabbled in fiddle music, I used to go see great Country bands all the time and singer-songwriters,� Carrie explains, �In fact, I used to play a little bit of fiddle with my father, he�s a singer-songwriter named David Rodriguez, so we played in clubs in Austin, that was probably my first taste of using the violin in another way.�
When she had first sat in with Lovett�s band, she claims she was awful at playing the music, having been so steeped in classical training. �I left Oberlin and just dove in, like started listening to a bunch of old Johnny Gimble recordings with Bob Wills, Mark O�Conners� early recording, just learning from other fiddle players,� she says.
In Boston, Lovett again proved to be a conduit for change. He played a concert there and asked Carrie to again sit in � but this time during the concert itself. Sitting in with his Big Band, playing a song written by her father (and recorded by Lovett), she realized that making music for a living was what she wanted to do.
Moving back to Austin, Carrie began to play occasionally with local and regional acts lending her fiddle as a hired gun. It was while playing with one such band at the 2001 South by Southwest conference that she was noticed by Chip Taylor. Taylor, a veteran of the music business having had minor chart success since the 1960�s and penning, among other songs, �Wild Thing� and �Angel Of The Morning,� took Carrie under his wing and hired her to play fiddle in his band. A few dates into the tour, he set a microphone in front of her and told her to feel free to use it if she felt inspired. Believing she didn�t have a very good singing voice, she was reluctant, but eventually began to sing back up parts.
�I�m not completely dumb,� Taylor said with a laugh during their Louisville performance, �so I started writing some duets.� Chip and Carrie recorded three albums worth of duets, the most recent being 2004�s Red Dog Tracks.
She credits her husband, Javier Vercher, whom she met while attending Berklee, for helping to broaden her listening tastes. One of the artists Javier, a talented Jazz saxophonist in his own right, introduced her to was avant-garde guitarist Bill Frisell. �I�ve been listening to Bill Frisells� music for the last five or six years,� Carrie says. Chip and Carrie recruited Frisell to play on Red Dog Tracks and the experience stayed with Carrie.
When it came time to record her solo album, Frisell was one of the first choices. �I�m just lucky enough to have worked with him on that [Red Dog Tracks],� Carrie recalls, �and we just had such good vibes in the studio that, for my record it was cool to get him to come back and play.�
Frisell rounded out the studio band, which also included bassist Viktor Krauss, drummer Kenny Wollesen, pedal steel virtuoso Greg Leisz and Javier on saxophone. The ensemble came together in Manhattan�s Avatar studio, a studio well known for being one of the best and famed for its Jazz recordings.
Even having so many versatile musicians, Carrie didn�t fear for the outcome of the record. �I don�t think I knew what kind of record I was going to make,� she notes with a laugh, �the songs, a lot of them, come from a place of, sort of a spiritual kind of place.�
The kind of spiritual place that comes from losing someone dear to us. In June of 2005, just months before work on the album began, Andy Morgan, a friend of Carrie�s since birth, was tragically killed in an accident while he road his bicycle to work in Manhattan. �That was a big influence and inspiration for the music,� Carrie says turning somber for just a brief moment.
Shortly after Andy�s death, she immersed herself in preparing her album, partly to forget about some of the pain. As the songwriting began, Chip brought her the title track to the album. �[That] was a tune that Chip had already started, he had written [it] for a girl,� she recalls, �I just got the goosebumps when he showed it to me, so we then talked about it and decided to work on it together and make it for my friend Andy.�
Carrie had rarely written before, but she stretched herself and co-wrote four of the albums songs with Chip, including the rousing �Never Going To Be Your Bride� (which shows her strong fiddle skills as well as the foundation of a good songwriter.
Having such a prolific songwriter as Taylor at her side has proved to be akin to attending a music business school, as he has given her advice on setting up her publishing and other pitfalls of the industry. �He has taught me a lot about getting set up right in the beginning in case anything good happens in the future,� she laughs.
The prospect of striking out on her own after having spent the last several years as part of a duo, was at first a bit unnerving. �But it�s been fun, kind of scary,� she says, �Its different getting used to being the center of attention, I�m used to standing on the side and doing what I do, so it�s different. It�s really exciting�
Part of the excitement is playing before new audiences, like the one she played before at a recent Tuesday Night Opry at Nashville�s Grand Ole Opry. She noted that she played more of her �Country� sounding songs and I asked her if it was a dream come true for her? �I never even thought to dream of that! The kind of music that I do, I wasn�t sure I would have ever gotten the chance to do that.�
This Fall she gets the opportunity to play a few shows on her own as well as opening for other acts like a recent stint with Chris Thile and continuing to play as part of the Chip and Carrie duo. �Tonight we are opening for �Chip and Carrie� so it�s like doing it with training wheels,� she says with a big smile and a laugh.
Taking the stage that Tuesday night in Louisville, Carrie seemed right at home with her band, The Good Eggs (featuring Hans Holzen on electric guitar, Kyle Kegerreis on standup bass and Javier on drums and percussion). The modest mid-week audience welcomed her enthusiastically as she kicked off her set which showed her fiddle chops on the traditional fiddle tune �Blackberry Blossom� and her playful sexy side on ��50�s French Movie.� As she wrapped her set and began to prepare for her set with Chip, the smile on her face made it clear she was comfortable where she was � on stage, in life or on the charts.
Oct
05
2006
Seven Angels on a Bicycle Carrie Rodriquez
Abstract
Seven Angels On A Bicycle, the first solo album by Carrie Rodriguez, is an interesting, diverse and beautiful creation and is making her one of the most exciting new artists in Americana. While Seven Angels On A Bicycle contains enough range, honesty, musicianship, and uniqueness to make it a work of considerable significance, it also contains hooks, catchiness, and personality that will make it accessible to a wide audience. She has grouped together a slew of magicians to make this record, and if her live performance has anywhere near the sass and quirk she emits on this album, her shows are going to be a carnival. I can�t think of any better way to launch a career than with such a solid and creative album as Seven Angels, and I certainly hope Carrie Rodriguez will continue to make interesting and stimulating music for a long time.
Introduction
Carrie Rodriguez is fast becoming one of the major darlings of Americana, and not through Company hype or Corporately dictated airplay. Brought up in Austin, Texas, Carrie Rodriguez attended Oberlin College Conservatory of Music to study classical violin. As her interests evolved, perhaps catalyzed partly by playing fiddle with family friend Lyle Lovett when he was in Cleveland for a show, she transferred to Berklee College of Music where she studied more modern styles and graduated Magna Cum Laude. In 2001, legendary songwriter Chip Taylor caught Rodriguez playing with Hayseed at an in-store gig during SXSW and hired her to play fiddle in his band � a post that eventually expanded to singing. Rodriguez toured with Taylor and recorded with him on his recent album Let�s Leave This Town.
Though she has recorded with Chip Taylor and worked on Patti Griffin�s 1,000 Kisses, Seven Angels On A Bicycle is her first official solo album. Seven Angels is something of a joint effort with Chip Taylor; Carrie Rodriguez gives credit to Taylor for musical guidance on Seven Angels, and Taylor has written or co-written all but one song, played acoustic guitar and co-produced this album with her. Chip Taylor is an accomplished songwriter, writing songs for or covered by such varied artists as Jeff Beck, Emmylou Harris, The Cult, The Divinyls, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, The Hollies, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix & The Troggs, Juice Newton & Shaggy�
To play with her on Seven Angels she had recruited a somewhat eclectic group of musicians that, as it turns out, are perfectly suited to exercise her material and cultivate her sound.
Methods
Rodriguez and Taylor got Bill Frisell to play electric guitar (a deal that included drummer Kenny Wollesen and bassist Viktor Krauss (brother to Allison Krauss)) and Greg Leisz played pedal and lap steel guitar. She also convinced jazz saxophonist Javier Vercher to play on the album. Though this album sounds like an intricately produced collection of polished songs, it was actually recorded from live (in the studio) sets recorded at Avatar in Manhattan. This collaboration has made a unique and studied sound, a tribute to the sensitivity and interplay of the musicians and vision of Taylor and Rodriguez.
Results
Seven Angels has at least that many moods, as the dozen songs cover some diverse and intriguing territory: songs such as the title track, �Big Kiss� and �Got Your Name On It� are haunting, airy and emotive, while �Dirty Leather� moves to even darker places, and makes me think that maybe she�s seen more than just the gritty side of Austin; �Never Gonna Be Your Bride� is a sizzling, sassy and edgy romp that Rodriguez has fun with and though her words claim the answer would be in the negative, the naughtiness in her voice makes me want to ask anyway. In what are (only by comparison to the rest of this collection) more straightforward songs, ��50�s French Movie� sounds like a soundtrack to a movie I�d like to see, played during the scene where she gets wound up, pissed off and busts stuff up to the sounds of a gritty Texas bar band (I�m betting she gets her way next time); and �I Don�t Want To Play House Anymore� is as close to a traditional country song as Rodriguez is willing to produce. �St. Peter�s� is beautiful, dreamy song that moves like a river, slow and open leading around a curve where it picks up pace and changes scenery � another curve brings us back to a familiar glide.
Rodriguez is comfortable, loose and affective and uses her well-accented voice to great effect. Her Texas charms flirt and seduce in some places, get sassy and rowdy elsewhere, and otherwise love, mourn or pray as beautifully as any expression of pain, loss or longing can be. Many of the songs on Seven Angels are moody, nearly soundscapes rather than straight out �songs�, though she has some of those too. This is an album that I�ve had playing in my CD changer non-stop for a few days now. I was immediately addicted to it and haven�t been able to turn it off yet; the opening song �Seven Angels On A Bicycle� is one of the best songs I�ve heard in a long time. I have to admit that I�m completely smitten with Carrie Rodriguez.
This set of material shows some healthy diversity, and will likely attract the attention of a wide audience. I like it that I can�t immediately come up with other artists with which to compare her sound; While Rodriguez�s voice and music don�t necessarily remind me of her, that she hasn�t forced herself into a single sound � into a radio-ready genre – reminds me of Norah Jones� first album, and the moodiness on some of this album reminds me of Cowboy Junkies. But I�m really impressed that I can�t legitimately use comparisons to pin down the sound of this album. Though she is getting (and I suspect will continue to receive) some much-deserved attention, Carrie Rodriguez is not �the next�� anyone. I find her music to be moving, poignant, complex, subtle, ethereal and independently derived.
Conclusion
Seven Angels On A Bicycle is our official introduction to Carrie Rodriguez, who will likely be an important voice in music. To my taste, this intelligent, moody, sassy, groovy, dark, edgy, airy, sexy album is one of the finest albums I�ve heard in a long time. Seven Angels is profoundly enjoyable, interesting, unique and substantial and I suspect Carrie Rodriguez�s career will be the same.
Doc English (James J. English, PhD) has been an officer in the US Navy and worked with the USMC as a researcher in the field of Medical Entomology and Ecology and has been a faculty member and Director of the Environmental Research Center at the University of Notre Dame. He now does his thing in the foothills of the Appalachians at Gardner-Webb University. His professional research concentrates on studying mating behaviors, acoustic properties of mating calls and consequences of mate choice among animals that use acoustics as part of their mating ritual. It may not be coincidental that he also enjoys traditional styles of music, in particular the rich and varied sub-genres of Americana. Over the years he has been actively engaged in listening to, studying, writing about and creating music.
Oct
03
2006
Category : Features
Later in the month at the 7th Annual Americana Music Awards, he was awarded the awkwardly titled First Amendment Center/Americana Music Association “Spirit of Americana” Free Speech Award. �I am very proud to be gettin� this award because I believe in Free Speech and I use mine quite frequently,� he said with a chuckle.
Past winners of that award, with one exception, have leaned further to the left than Charlie on the political scale. Many artists in the Americana genre feel a freedom to be able to express their views without fear of offending a mainstream audience. By giving this award to someone who is outspokenly on the right, it gives evidence that the AMA can look beyond the rhetoric and honor a person for his or her actions. �We are so far apart [in this Country] right now and it hurts everything and everybody. We need to be a united Country. Sometimes I think we don�t give enough credence to each others ideas,� Daniels says.
And it is some of those ideas that often draw him criticism. His 2003 �Open Letter to Hollywood� was widely circulated by fans and critics alike. In his websites� Soapbox columns, Daniels talks about issues from deadbeat dads to illegal immigration to his current column on Hugo Chavez. But Daniels takes the criticisms in stride: �If you�ve got enough guts to have an opinion in this country, you�re definitely going to be criticized, there�s no doubt about it. You know, you�re absolutely not going to go unscathed; you�re going to be criticized because people are going to have different opinions.�
�But I am not an unreasonable man,� he continues, �and what I say is if someone wants to sit down and talk to me about it, and I have the time to talk to �em, I�ll be glad to explain my position and they can explain their position.�
And while the definition of patriotism has been debated in recent years, Charlie holds a firm belief on what it is not: �Patriotism, and I�ve said this a lot of times, is not a blind allegiance to some political ideology or some idea, because you�re not going to be right all the time. You cannot possible be right all of the time, there�s always going to be a fact you don�t know, something that you don�t consider and somewhere between left and right or the Republican and Democrat and conservative or liberal is the truth.�
Daniels believes that one of the problems in the Country today are the career politicians that run amuck in Washington. �What their [politicians] job is supposed to be, they�re supposed to be representing the people, we the people put them in there,� He says passionately, �Actually what they�re representing is a political party. They spend more time trying to make each other look bad than they do trying to do something positive. So they get very little positive done.�
Getting something positive done is something Charlie Daniels knows a little about. During his first trip to Iraq to visit US Troops (a trip that included tours of Kurdistan, Usbekastan, Afghanistan and Kuwait as well as Iraq), Charlie met many servicemen who played music but didn�t have access to instruments or things like strings and picks. �I was with the Major General of the State of Tennessee National Guard,� Charlie recalls, �and I said, �Look, if I can get some of the companies that we do business with to send some instruments and things over here, can you get them over here for me?� He said sure.�
With that promise in mind, Charlie began to call the companies when he returned to the States. One of the first companies he called was Gibson Guitar. �Gibson Guitar knocked me off my seat because they gave us 100 guitars.� Other companies began to follow suit and as Charlie says, �What we were looking to be as a very small thing turned into a lot of stuff.�
�A lot of stuff� included the Gibson guitars, drums, keyboards, microphones, CD and DVD players, DVDs and over 6000 CDs donated by a record label. Though the logistics of transporting it to the troops took a year to finalize, it was finally delivered earlier this year. All told, the donations totaled two full pallets of equipment which Charlie personally delivered: �When we went back this last time, this last April, we flew commercial to Germany and we got on an Air Force C-17 cargo jet to go to Iraq and we flew [in], the stuff went with us.�
Operation Heartstrings, the name of the charity established to continue to send music related items to the Troops, is just one of the ways Charlie tries to repay the debt owed the service men and women of this Country. �It was an honor to do that and we owe them so much,� Daniels restates, �Our people who are in service now, and veterans who have been in service, we owe an un-payable debt to them, I mean we just can�t�we could never say thank you enough.�
Another way he supports the Troops is through performing for them. Footage of his first visit to Iraq is included on his new, and first, DVD, CDB DVD Live. The DVD was recorded on the Riverfront in Nashville during a July Fourth concert in 2005 interspersed with interview footage of Charlie. �There�s a lot of stuff on there that, to me, would be interesting to someone who is a fan of the band that they would enjoy looking at,� says Charlie, �It�s a documentary basically of a lot of the things that have happened to us in the last many years.�
Also included on the DVD, as a bonus feature, is historic footage from the 1975 Volunteer Jam II in Murfreesboro, Tennessee featuring a brief backstage glimpse and a performance by The Charlie Daniels Band (a blistering performance of �Birmingham Blues�). Does more footage exist beyond the nearly 15 minutes included? �You�d be surprised at the amount of footage that we�ve got,� Charlie says, �The problem we have with that is clearance to release the footage.� His hope is that he will be able to obtain the proper clearances and be able to release the classic footage on DVD.
Later this month, Oct. 28th to be exact, Charlie Daniels will celebrate his 70th birthday and as he nears 50 years as an entertainer, he has no plans to slow down. �I�ve always got upcoming projects,� he says with a laugh. To be specific those include two albums that are in the works, one of which is his first duets album. The songs included will be a mixture of new songs and some of Charlie�s favorites from the past. Songs like �What�d I Say� with Travis Tritt and �Jackson� with Gretchen Wilson. �We kind of did them with a little different twist,� Daniels says. Other artists included on the project are Earl Scruggs, The Del McCoury Band, Brad Paisley, Double Trouble (Stevie Ray Vaughan�s former band), Brenda Lee and Bonnie Bramlett. The project is set to be released early next year.
Oct
02
2006
Category : Reviews
Steve Goodman was only in his 30s when he died from leukemia in the early 1980s, but despite his youthful
passing his musical legacy towers, and includes, arguably, John Prine�s career, and the song City of New Orleans, a hit for Arlo Guthrie. Live at the Earl of Old Town was recorded in
1978 at Chicago�s Earl of Old Town nightclub, but the tapes apparently were forgotten on a shelf at a Windy City record company. No matter�the poignant often humorous songs, the exquisite guitar playing and the unadorned yet on-the-mark singing sound like they were recorded last week. If you’re a fan like me, you’ll be delighted to hear Lincoln Park Pirates along with a too-quick version of City of New Orleans (when I hear his rendition I think how Goodman�s life was way too quick). Sorry, no cover of The Dutchman, a song Goodman didn�t write but performed movingly. Modern singer/songwriters should give this a listen to get tips on how to entertain while still making their point. By the way, John Prine�s record company is shepherding the CD to market.