Music

 

My favorite genres are rock, folk, Motown, and now, believe it or not, country.  Can't listen to opera or rap (except, perhaps Hamilton) and I really don't enjoy classical.  I've been trying and trying to remember all the songs I loved to listen to through the years.

Great-for-me background music: 
Dar Williams
David Mallett
Devonsquare

A stroll down memory lane....

6th Avenue Heartache by The Wallflowers (1996)
96 Tears by ? and the Mysterians (1966)
All Summer Long by Kid Rock (2007)
Alleluia by Dar Williams (1995)
Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not by Thompson Square (2011)
Bad Moon Rising by Creedance Clearwater Revival (1969)
Barbara Ann by the Beach Boys (1965)
Believer by Imagine Dragons
Blue Ain't Your Color by Keith Urban (2016)
Boomtown by Greg Brown (1994)
Both Sides Now by Judy Collins (1968)
Chicken Fried by Zac Brown Band (2007)
Cryin' by Aerosmith (1993)
Devil with the Blue Dress On by Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels (1966)
End of the Line by The Traveling Wilburys
Even Now by Caitlyn & Will (2008)
For What It's Worth by Buffalo Springfield (1966)
Foxy Lady by Jimi Hendrix Experience (1967)
Girls Like You by Maroon 5 (2017)
Good Lovin' by The Young Rascals (1966)
Grandmother's Name by Catie Curtis (1991)
Hey Joe by Jimi Hendrix Experience
House of the Rising Sun by The Animals (1964)
I Ain't Superstitious by Jeff Beck (1968)
I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag (Fish Cheer) by Country Joe and the Fish (1968)
I Think We're Alone Now by Tommy James and the Shondells (1967)
I'm Still a Guy by Brad Paisley (2010)
It's Five O'Clock Somewhere by Alan Jackson & Jimmy Buffett (2009)
I've Been Around by David Mallett (1983)
Keep on Loving You by Steel Magnolia (2011)
Louie, Louie by The Kingsmen (1963)
Lover, Lover by Jared Neiman (2010)
The More I Drink by Blake Shelton (2007)
Mustang Sally by Wilson Pickett (1967)
Not Ready to Make Nice by The Chicks (2006)
Old Fat Women for Peach by the Righteous Mothers (2006)
One Day by Matisyahu (2009)
One of Us by Joan Osborne (1994)
Perfect by Ed Sheeran (2017)
Play the Song by Joey & Rory (2008)
Pontoon by Little Big Town (2012)
Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix (1967)
Season of the Witch by Donovan (1966)
Something to Talk About by Bonnie Raitt (1991)
Spirit in the Sky by Norman Greenbaum (1969)
Spooky by The Classics IV (1968)
Summertime Blues by Blue Cheer (1968)
Sunny by Bobby Hebb (1966)
Suzie Q by Creedence Clearwater Revival (1968?)
Waltz for Arizona by Cosy Sheridan (2003)
You're My Soul and Inspiration by the Righteous Brothers (1965)

Movie - Yesterday

PG-13 (1:52)

Wide release 6/28/19

Viewed 7/9/19 with Ella at Gettysburg RC Theater - first time here.  Great theater!

IMBd: 7.0

RT Critic:  63  Audience:  89

Critic's Consensus:  Yesterday may fall short of fab, but the end result is still a sweetly charming fantasy with an intriguing -- albeit somewhat under-explored -- premise.

Cag:  5/Loved it

Directed by Danny Boyle

Universal Pictures

My comments:  This was a fun movie with excellent actors and great music.  The story of a young man who, after an earthquake, awakens to find no one in the world remembers the Beatles or any of their music --- except him.  Lots of other little surprises along the way.  Super fun!  One that I'd watch again.  The lead guy sings all the songs himself.  Impressive.
     Ed Sheeran was in it and played himself.  VERY fun.

RT/ IMDb Summary:  Jack Malik (Himesh Patel, BBC's Eastenders) is a struggling singer-songwriter in a tiny English seaside town whose dreams of fame are rapidly fading, despite the fierce devotion and support of his childhood best friend, Ellie (Lily James, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again). Then, after a freak bus accident during a mysterious global blackout, Jack wakes up to discover that The Beatles have never existed... and he finds himself with a very complicated problem, indeed.

2. Amina's Voice by Hena Khan

read on my iPhone
copyright info
197 pgs.
Middle Grade CRF, Cultural information
Finished 1/5/18
Goodreads rating: 4.06 - 2133 ratings
My rating:  3
Setting:  contemporary Milwaukee, WI

First line/s:  "Something sharp pokes me in the rib.  "You should really sign up for a solo," Soojin whispers from the seat behind me in music class.

My comments:  This was a quiet, lovely book about a very sweet girl and her family.  I loved all the Pakistani-American information, as well as all the went along with Amina's best friend, Soojin's, citizenship. I'm not even sure why I'm not jumping up and down about it.  There were no surprises, everything worked out well, and there were a lot of stereotypical situations (bullying, jealousy, sibling relationships) .  It wasn't a deep book, it scratched the surface, and will be a nice read for many middle grade girls.

Goodreads synopsis: Amina has never been comfortable in the spotlight. She is happy just hanging out with her best friend, Soojin. Except now that she’s in middle school everything feels different. Soojin is suddenly hanging out with Emily, one of the “cool” girls in the class, and even talking about changing her name to something more “American.” Does Amina need to start changing too? Or hiding who she is to fit in? While Amina grapples with these questions, she is devastated when her local mosque is vandalized. 

PICTURE BOOK - Stand Up and Sing: Pete Seeger, Folk Music, and the Path to Justice by Susanna Reich

Illustrated by Adam Gustavson

2017, Bloomsbury

HC $17.99

44 pgs.

Goodreads rating:4.28 - 58 ratings

My rating: 5

Endpapers: Solid dark Blue

1^st line/s:  (after a wonderful foreward by Peter Yarrow) "Pete Seeger plucks and strums the banjo.  His warm, high voice floats over the crowd.  Heads begin to bob and toes begin to tap."

My comments:  I've been a folk music follower since my early 20s and a Pete Seeger fan for a long, long time.  I was so thrilled to discover this text-rich biography of this banjo-playing activist, perfect for elementary kids, especially if they know or have heard of any of his music.  What a great gift for kids - a copy of this book and a cd with many of the songs that he is SO famous for - We Shall Overcome; Turn, Turn, Turn; If I Had a Hammer, Where Have All the Flowers Gone; and Little Boxes to name a few.  Reading this book in the same week that the craziness in Charlottesville happened is especially meaningful, as "We Shall Overcome" should still be sung at the top of our voices!

Goodreads:  Inspired by the rhythms of American folk music, this moving account of Pete Seeger's life celebrates his legacy, showing kids of every generation that no cause is too small and no obstacle too large if, together, you stand up and sing!
          Pete Seeger was born with music in his bones. Coming of age during the Great Depression, Pete saw poverty and adversity that would forever shape his worldview, but it wasn't until he received his first banjo that he found his way to change the world. It was plucking banjo strings and singing folk songs that showed Pete how music had the incredible power to bring people together.
          Using this gift throughout his life, Pete encouraged others to rally behind causes that mattered--fighting for Civil Rights, ending the Vietnam War, or cleaning up the Hudson River. For Pete, no challenge was too great, and what started out as a love for music turned into a lifetime of activism and change. His greatest talent--and greatest passion--would become an unforgettable part of American history.

PICTURE BOOK - Ada's Violin: The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay by Susan Hook

Illustrated by Sally Wern Comport

2016, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

HC $17.99

40 pgs.

Goodreads rating: 4.38 (72 ratings)

My rating:  %

Endpapers:  Pale Aqua

Title Page: Dirt-ish background with torn scattered pieces of musical score strewn about

Illustrations:  Collage and drawings together, perfect for this book!

1^st line/s:  "Ada Rios grew up in a town made of trash."  Powerwful!

Note:  In the MIM in Phoenix, there is a display of some of these intruments!  There has been a 60-Minutes segment on it and there are all sorts of YouTube videos.  recycledorchestracateura.com

My comments:   Nonfiction picture books that tell true stories of what's going on in other parts of the world draw me like a bee to nectar.  And when they're well told, illustrated beautifully, and loaded with pertinent information, I'm one happy teacher.  However, I don't have a classroom in which to share this book anymore, and this is a book to be shared and discussed.  Perfect for the intermediate-grade classroom that is learning about how to make a difference in our world.
          I can't imagine a town that's built on, at, or even near a huge garbage dump.  What a wake-up message for kids AND adults.  Lots of additional information so that I can look and learn more, and maybe even help a bit.....

Goodreads:  From award-winning author Susan Hood and illustrator Sally Wern Comport comes the extraordinary true tale of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay, an orchestra made up of children playing instruments built from recycled trash.
     Ada Ríos grew up in Cateura, a small town in Paraguay built on a landfill. She dreamed of playing the violin, but with little money for anything but the bare essentials, it was never an option...until a music teacher named Favio Chávez arrived. He wanted to give the children of Cateura something special, so he made them instruments out of materials found in the trash. It was a crazy idea, but one that would leave Ada—and her town—forever changed. Now, the Recycled Orchestra plays venues around the world, spreading their message of hope and innovation.

MOVIE - Begin Again

R (1:41)
Limited Release 6/7-27/14
Viewed Sunday, 7/13/14 in Harrisburg at the Midtown Theater
RT Critic: 82  Audience: 87
cag:  4.5 I loved some of it and I liked some of it and I was disenchanted with a bit of it....
Directed by John Carney (who also wrote it0
The Weinstein Company

Keira Knightly, Mark Ruffalo, Adam Levine (who does a great job!! heart, heart....

My comments:  This was a wonderful movie.  The acting was great, the music was super, and watching these three actors was a complete delight.  I love the idea of an album of music being recorded on the streets on New York, and wonder if there is actually some sort of video or cd release that goes along with this. So what disenchanted me?  Although the ending was probably what might have happened in "real life," it just left me completely unsettled....especially what happened with Mark Ruffalo's character.....

RT Summary:  The latest film from writer-director John Carney (ONCE), BEGIN AGAIN is a soul-stirring comedy about what happens when lost souls meet and make beautiful music together. Gretta (Keira Knightley) and her long-time boyfriend Dave (Adam Levine) are college sweethearts and songwriting partners who decamp for New York when he lands a deal with a major label. But the trappings of his new-found fame soon tempt Dave to stray, and a reeling, lovelorn Gretta is left on her own. Her world takes a turn forthe better when Dan (Mark Ruffalo), a disgraced record-label exec, stumbles upon her performing on an East Village stage and is immediately captivated by her raw talent. From this chance encounter emerges an enchanting portrait of a mutually transformative collaboration, set to the soundtrack of a summer in New York City.

America the Beautiful: Together We Stand- Katherine Lee Bates

Illustrated by Bryan Collier, Raul Colon, Diane Goode, Mary Grandpre, John Hendrix, Yuyi Morales, jon J. Muth, LeUyen Pham, Sonia Lynn Sadler, Chris Soenpiet

Orchard Books, 2013

HC $17.99 (splurged and purchased it)

24 pages

Goodreads rating: 4.10

My rating: 5 (This is an awesome book)

Endpapers: Blue with white stars - Like a closeup of that part of the American flag.

Title Page: Just the title, in huge, bold red and white font

Quotes from presidents Carter, Jefferson, Reagan, Lincoln, Obama, Kennedy, FDR, Washington, GHW Bush, Theodore Roosevelt...

The end pages include national landmarks and symbols.  Gorgeous!

My Goodreads review:  Everything about this book was special. The ten American artists and the illustrations they created. The ten chosen quotes from ten different presidents. The four pages of information at the end. As I teacher, the book SCREAMS mini-lessons. Art, history, language arts, social consciousness....I can even use some of these great quotes for handwriting assignments with meaning and verve. I splurged. I wonder whose brainstorm it was to put it together?

Goodreads summary: Each of our presidents has had a unique vision of America. In AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL, these ideas are translated into gorgeous illustrations by such top artists as Bryan Collier, Jon J Muth, Diane Goode, Mary GrandPre, Raul Colon, Sonia Lynn Sadler, Yuyi Morales, John Hendrix, LeUyen Pham, and Chris Soentpiet. Each of these talented illustrators has found a unique way to interpret the values and beliefs that have built our great country.

Through moving illustrations, AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL integrates the lyrics of the familiar patriotic tune with inspiring presidential quotations. AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL will help teach children about our country's great leaders while highlighting American values such as diversity, unity, and freedom. In addition, the back cover features a quote from the acceptance speech of the winner of the 2012 presidential election.

53. The Day Before - Lisa Schroeder

2011, Simon Pulse
Goodreads rating: 4.00
cag: 4
for: YA
309 pages
paper $9,99

Setting:  Contemporary Oregon coast
First line/s:  Some mornings,/it's hard to get/out of bed.

Written in verse, the story pulls you right in and along. Easy-to-read in one two-hour sitting, leaves a lot to think about. Two young people head to the beach for one last day before some pretty major events will change their lives forever. Very likable teens, Cade and Amber.  They meet when their eyes meet at the jellyfish tank at the aquarium.

Beautiful writing:

I like

the memories
because they remind me
I haven't always been
this girl,
constantly
mad or scared
or confused.

I don't like

the memories
because the tears
come easily,
and once again I break
my promise 
to myself for this day.

It's a constant battle.

Chirchir is Singing – Kelly Cunnane

Illustrated by Jude Daly

Schwartz & Wade Books, 2011

HC $17.99

32 pages

Rating:  4.5

Endpapers:  Brown earth with a few floating musical notes

Title Page:  her family, walking across the page.  Full color.

Illustrations:  cover most of page, in acrylics.  Sparse yet detailed.  Give a real feel for the setting.

Setting:  Contemporary northwestern Kenya, Kalenjin tribe

OSS:  Young Chirchir wants to help her family with the chores, but is a little too young to be able to actually help.

We meet Chirchir’s family as they are working.  Mama, who is drawing water from the well; Kogo, her grandmother, tending fire to cook chai; Ji-Bet, her sister, spreading a fresh layer of cow dung and ashes on the floor of the kitchen hut; Baba, her father, digging potatoes in the hill garden.  She sings everywhere she goes.  And so she sings to her baby brother, which keeps him entertained , as her voice travels to the rest of her family and keeps them happy, too.

Great language…simile and metaphor, with info in the back about this culture and a glossary and pronounciationguide for the Swahili words used.

32. Ten Miles Past Normal - Frances O'Roark Dowell

2011, Atheneum
211 pages
for:  Middle School/young YA
rating:  very likable: a happy, easy, fun read for girls (4)

1st sentence/s:  "No one can figure out where the terrible smell is coming from, but everyone on the bus this morning can smell it and has an opinion."
Setting:  Contemporary "rurally" North Carolina, the high school is in town, but the protagonist lives out a bit on a small farm.

Janie Gorman has been miserable throughout her first months as a freshman.  Many middle schools have come together in her North Carolina town to become part of a huge high school, and it words out that none of her friends are in any of her classes OR eat the same lunch as her.  It doesn't help that when she was in the 3rd or 4th grade they moved from the central part of town way out to the country, where her family now lives on a small, self-sustainable farm.  She has her own goat, which she loves and talks to.  But this has not helped her non-existent social life at all.

Janie just wants to be "normal."  Well, she's more than normal, she's unique and special, but she doesn't realize it, as most 14-year-olds don't.  Starting the year by getting onto the school bus with goat poop on her shoe - stinky goat poop - doesn't help.  She knows no one at her lunch, so she crams her food down standing outside her locker and spends the period in the library. Her best friend, Sarah, is in only one class with her, and elective they chose purposely to be together.  It comes a the end of the day, and for it they have decided to research some older civil rights workers in their town.

However, wanting to belong as much as possible, it works out in a somewhat funky way that Janie starts to play bass guitar.  She teaches herself.  Fast.  It does not mention too much practicing, but she becomes fairly good.  Again, fast.  This was the one part of the story that needed work.  When Sarah and her sister, Emma, take up accordion, it never mentions any previous experience on the piano, but they are performing together in no time.  Didn't quite work for me.

But the characters did.  From her mom's futile attempts at crafting, her realization that Sarah is really quite bossy (and also her acceptance of it), to the boys she meets that year, all are interesting and pretty well crafted.  It was a quick, enjoyable read with a happy edge to it.  Perfect summer reading, and perfect for a whole lot of the girls I know.

Passing the Music Down - Sarah Sullivan

Illustrated by Barry Root
Candlewick Press, 2010
HC $16.99
32 pgs.
Rating:  4
Endpapers:  Light blue
Title page:  Small oval watercolor of a bridge over a river between two mountain/hills

Based on the true story of the friendship of an elderly fiddle player and a young boy who learns to carry on the tradition of mountain folk music.  The original story takes place in West Virginia, this story takes place in Tennessee.

Come August, with corn strutting high in the fields
and tomatoes plumping out on the vine,
folks get to talking about tuning up and
heading over twisty mountain roads
to hear fiddle players and banjo pickers
make music under the stars.

They travel through the heartland,
past cold factories and drifty towns
to the old, old mountains
slumbering east of Tennessee.

Full page illustrations are just gorgeous.

Full of alliteration, metaphor, simile, personification, and snazzy, snazzy verbs, the eloquent text is a joy, and the story is quite interesting.  I plan to look up some of the tunes mentioned, see if I can purchase or download them to share with my students when I share this beautiful book.  "Peg 'n' Awl," "Bonaparte's Retreat," "Cold Frosty Morning," "Liza Jane," "Yew Piney Mountain."

Author's Note, Lengthy bibliography, and a note on the tunes are at the end of the book.

The Bravest Flute - Ann Grifalconi

A Story of Courage in the Mayan Tradition
Little, Brown & Co., 1994 (out-of-print)
Rating: 3
Endpapers: aqua

(Includes a 3-paragraph author's note with information about the Maya.)

A poor, fatherless Maya boy is to lead the New Year's parade from the village to the cathedral. He will play his simple bamboo flute while carrying a huge drum on his back - on which a drummer will pound - for the entire procession. It gets harder and harder, but he is greeted at the cathedral with pine arches, soft leaves underfoot, and a very special gift.

It's written so that it reads as prose but looks like long lines of free verse. This seems to ba an early sample of the many vers-stories of the past decade. Illustrations softly cover the entire page, with the text in a lighter space near the bottom. It looks like pastels and watercolor washes.

Read this aloud accompanied by simple flute music. Have TWO voices read it aloud - one for the italics, one for the story. Amy and I did this in the classroom and it was actually quite lovely. We had the students just listen to the story and envision the setting and characters - without showing the illustrations as we went along. We had them draw their own visions, then we shared the story with the original illustrations.

55. If I Stay - Gayle Forman

for: YA
Dutton Books/Penguin, April 2009
$16.99
200 pgs.
Rating: 5 (or maybe 4.5 because it made me cry)

Right from the beginning you know that there will be a catastrophe and what that catastrophe is. And, yuh, I did cry, but not 'til the end....whew....I just couldn't help it.

This story is layer after layer of character development woven beautifully together. Love. Family. Quirkiness. And music. Lots and lots of music- punk and classical and many more of those aforementioned layers in between. It's clever and heart-warming and tells the story of a 17 year-old cellist bound for Juilliard, from her point-of-view.....her point-of-view as an out-of-body protagonist that is watching her family and friends as she hovers in a coma after a dreadful car accident.

I don't want to give any more spoilers. The story is so beautifully written and pulls you in so quickly that you very badly want to know these people. And don't decide not to read it because you don't like sad stories. It's too good to do that.

In the afterword, Forman says that she listened to Glen Hasard and Marketa Irglova sing Falling Slowly 200 times while she wrote this book. I SO love that song - it's on my FAVORITES playlist on my IPod. And if you saw the movie Once, you've heard it, too. That REALLY endeared me to the author.

What a great piece of storytelling.

Song of Middle C - Alison McGhee

Illustrated by Scott Menchin
Candlewick, 2009
Ages 5-8
Rating: 4
Endpapers: colonial blue with musical notes

"Hoo boy!" I've got to get this book for Dede. It's a wonderful story for anyone who takes piano lessons and enjoys them enough to practice, practice, practice.

Told in the first person, our nameless heroine practices and practices and practices "The Dance of the Wood Elves" for her recital. She knows it. She owns it. She is ready. Her piano teacher, Miss Kari says, "True artistry requires great imagination." But she's nervous, so for the recital she wears her lucky hat, shoes, and underwear. She's the last to perform. "Hoo boy!" And what happens? You guessed it - she forgets everything she's practiced. So she improvises, to everyone's great delight. And now Miss Kari says, "True artistry requires great imagination....and great improvisation!"

Colored pen and ink drawings go perfectly with the story.

33. Beige - Cecil Castellucci

Published: 2007
Rating: 4
307 Pgs.
Paperback $8.99

14 year-old Katy leaves Montreal to spend two and a half weeks in LA with the dad she barely knows - who happens to be "The Rat", a punk drummer from the legendary band "Sucks." Her mother has gone to Peru to research and archeological site, and this is the first time they've been separated. Katy has been raised to be polite and kind, so the various rockers, punks, and free spirits that she meets in Los Angeles are all very strange to her. She doesn't say much, just listens. She's never had any appreciation for any kind of music, but is now thrown headfirst into a world she does not know, and does not care to know.

Her father has bribed a young female musician, Lake Suck, to keep her company. And on her own she meets a couple of other teenagers. So when her mother decides to spend the entire summer in Peru, Katy has no choice but to stay in LA. Lake has christened her "Beige", and she becomes known by that name.

This is an interesting story about a girl learning to be herself. It is also a story about overcoming the odds (most of the adults in the book are recovering addicts), and learning about what friendship and family really means. I liked it.

First Line/s: "The first thing I notice as the plane lands at LAX is that it is cloudy and pouring rain. So much for the myth that it's always sunny in Los Angeles."

The Composer is Dead - Lemony Snicket

Illustrator: Carson Ellis
Music Composed by Nathaniel Stookey
2009
Rating: 4
Endpapers (back of covers): Silhouttes of composers

When the composer is found dead, the inspector is called in to interview all the usual suspects - the members of the orchestra. He starts with the strings, proceeds to the woodwinds, brass, and percussion. Their excuses were all plausible. And then the inspector remembered the conductor. "You've been murdering composers for years! In fact, wherever there's a conductor, you're sure to find a dead composer!" And then there's a long list of famous dead composers.

This is chock full of information about an orchestra and the instruments that make it up. I read the book at B&N, so I didn't get to listen to the CD - which was performed by the San Francisco Symphony. Looks like Tracks 1-9 are the story read by the author and tracks 10-18 are instrumentals. I'd love to hear it!

GREAT vocabulary; lurking, flamboyant, interrogate, weary, "on the contrary," crucial, treachery, alibis, boisterous, arrogant, ruckus, agitated, nostalgic, unison......

(Not my favorite illustrations, but they work with the book.)

Blake Shelton

What's goin' on?
Sitting on my living room floor wrapping Christmas gifts last December, I nonchalantly flipped on the tv. Another reality show...Clash of the Choirs...was just beginning. It was to last four or five nights, featuring five different singers from five different American music genres who had hand-picked choirs from their hometowns. Okay. Nick Lachey is cool, the rest I could take or leave (Patti LaBelle, Michael Bolton), two I'd never heard of. One was Blake Shelton, whose Oklahoma City choir was diverse and interesting. And boy, they sounded great. I was taken by Blake Shelton's voice, and then his charm, and when I finally actually looked up from my wrapping---his...ahem...appearance...talk about beautiful packages! Yup, that's right. I actually said it. It all started then.

I have NEVER enjoyed country music. It was always twangy and drawl-y and, well, generally yucky. I would turn the channel or station immediately upon hearing that twang. But somewhere, somehow, last March or April I heard "The More I Drink" by Blake Shelton. Catchy, catchy , sing-along song. I looked it up on ITunes. I donwloaded the video, the song. I blasted it through the house and danced to it as I loaded the dishwasher. So I decided to actually try out a country music CD. I purchased Pure BS. I listened to it...over and over. And I couldn't get enough. I love this CD. It's the first time in years I've found a CD I love like this, and listen to it over and over. So I spread my wings and purchased the Blake Shelton CD, then the Blake Shelton' Barn and Grille. I download the videos of Some Beach and Old Red.

I.....WAS.....SOLD.

I love this guy. I love his music. I love his guitar playing. I like the songs he chooses to sing. My favorite is still The More I Drink. But I love Austin, and I Thought There Was Time, I Have Been Lonely and I Don't Care, She Wouldn't Be Gone and She Don't Love Me, She Doesn't Know She's Got It, and on and on. I can't think of one song I don't like. Great beat. Great rhythm. Great voice. I'm in love!

When Dede and I road-tripped across Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas this summer, Blake Shelton screamed from the open windows as we hit that Oh-My-God-Can-You-Believe-the-Speed-Limit-is-EIGHTY highway. What a blast! And the best news of all - he has a new album out on November 18th! It's called Startin' Fires. He sure starts mine.

Sweet Life - Catie Curtis

Released Sept. 2008
Compass Records

Mmmmm, love Catie Curtis. Love her voice, love her lyrics. She's written most of the songs on this album herself. Really upbeat, from the the singable refrain of "Happy, to the honky tonk sound of "Lovely" to the wonderful "The Princess and the Mermaid", which is a celebration of relationships and family.

I can remember sitting in my dorm room at Barnard, a zillion summers ago (well, maybe 10 or 12), listening over and over to "Grandmother's Name", which is on her "From Years to Hours" album. (I've got my grandmother's name but she don't remember who I am.)

Catie writes in the liner notes for this latest album, "When I was 15 years old and living in Saco, Maine, I wanted to play guitar but didn't have one. Lynne Ramsdell, stage manager at a local theater, gave me an old Yamaha saying, 'You can have this if you promise me you'll learn to play it.' She left Saco shortly after that and I never got the chance to thank her for changing my life. I'd like to thank her now." I've listened to Catie Curtis for years and years, and never realized that she's a Mainer. And now I can totally SEE "River Winding", another of my very favorites, from her "Catie Curtis" album. (River winding, throught this milltown, my hometown is dark by four.......through the darkness, sometimes cursed and sometimes blessed.)

A great songwriter with a beautiful voice, I'd sure love to see her perform live someday.

Promised Land - Dar Williams

Released Sept. 2008
Razor & Tie

I can vividly remember the first time I heard Dar Williams. Steve and I were in Portland on a Sunday, and we went into Borders to the music department. I'm not sure we even had a Borders in Bangor yet. I put the bulky earphones on and listened to some of the sample tracks on "The Honesy Room". "Alleluia" blew me away. It's still one of my favorite songs by any artist.I bought the cd, even though we couldn't really afford such frivolities as music we weren't even sure we would like. Seems like a century ago.

I now own all Dar William's cds, have seen her perform (in Petersborough, NH, another vivid memory), and am so enjoying this newest release, her first studio album in three years or so. Each song in the liner notes is on a two-page spread that is illustrated by interesting contemporary artwork.

Every song that Dar sings makes me think. I really like "Troubled Times:" Maybe one day soon/It will all come out/How you dream about each other sometimes/With the memory of/How you once gave up/But you made it though the troubled times.
And Buzzer ... I'd love to know the story behind this song.

It's exciting to have some new Dar songs to learn, to hum, to sing, and to enjoy.