Dunn Bros Gig: March 4
Feb/28/2005 07:10 AM | Permalink
In other
news, I've also picked up a last-minute weekend
gig....
I'll be playing at Dunn Bros. Coffee in Addison on Friday. More details here. This is kind of a last minute gig...I'm filling in for a cancellation. But if you have time Friday and are in the area, stop on by!
I'll be playing at Dunn Bros. Coffee in Addison on Friday. More details here. This is kind of a last minute gig...I'm filling in for a cancellation. But if you have time Friday and are in the area, stop on by!
--30--
Bruce Rouse Dies
Feb/25/2005 07:08 AM | Balcony People
| Permalink
Bruce
Rouse Dies
Unbelievable. Another folk music friend has died. The email came in yesterday that Bruce Rouse died over the weekend. I talked with his family some in the past few hours, and they have asked me to help lead the funeral on Wednesday. It's an honor, but one I'd rather not have. What a shock. Apparently, he had a heart attack while driving around the Austin area on Sunday. From what I can tell, he never had a heart problem before...
Bruce and his wife Liz are two of the kindest people I know in the folk music world. They hosted a very successful and celebrated house concert series in Austin for 15 years. And they hosted a breakfast at a Kerrville during the weekends. That's the place I remember Bruce the best...always hovering around, making sure everyone had fresh coffee and a new bagel.
Hosting all sorts of songwriters, to play an early morning song, and share a story. In many ways, Bruce and Liz were like surrogate parents to a whole lot of folks.
I'll be heading down there tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon, and help with the service on Wednesday.
That night, there'll be a song gathering at Live Oak UU Church (home of the Live Oak Coffeehouse) where folks will be invited to play and share stories.
Still, quite an unbelievable shock. I can't say that I've ever had a several-week period where so many people I know have died. (see below). It's been very strange and surreal, and this is yet another piece of the strangeness of it.
Bruce will be sorely missed by many. I'll write more once I'm back.
Unbelievable. Another folk music friend has died. The email came in yesterday that Bruce Rouse died over the weekend. I talked with his family some in the past few hours, and they have asked me to help lead the funeral on Wednesday. It's an honor, but one I'd rather not have. What a shock. Apparently, he had a heart attack while driving around the Austin area on Sunday. From what I can tell, he never had a heart problem before...
Bruce and his wife Liz are two of the kindest people I know in the folk music world. They hosted a very successful and celebrated house concert series in Austin for 15 years. And they hosted a breakfast at a Kerrville during the weekends. That's the place I remember Bruce the best...always hovering around, making sure everyone had fresh coffee and a new bagel.
Hosting all sorts of songwriters, to play an early morning song, and share a story. In many ways, Bruce and Liz were like surrogate parents to a whole lot of folks.
I'll be heading down there tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon, and help with the service on Wednesday.
That night, there'll be a song gathering at Live Oak UU Church (home of the Live Oak Coffeehouse) where folks will be invited to play and share stories.
Still, quite an unbelievable shock. I can't say that I've ever had a several-week period where so many people I know have died. (see below). It's been very strange and surreal, and this is yet another piece of the strangeness of it.
Bruce will be sorely missed by many. I'll write more once I'm back.
--30--
Rachel Bissex
Feb/24/2005 06:27 PM | Balcony People
| Permalink
Rachel's funeral was yesterday,
up in Vermont. As I moved through the day
yesterday, I
thought more and more about her. I swapped emails with Annie Wenz this week. Annie was a very good friend of Rachel's, and in addition to being a fine singer-songwriter, she was a psych nurse for many years. I told Annie I could think of no one better to help Rachel and her family through those last days than her. I think she'll probably post some of her own thoughts about Rachel's life and death as the days pass.
For my part, I found myself listening to a lot of Rachel's music yesterday. It was sort of a way to be in spiritual solidarity with all those who were gathered, during those same moments, in Vermont to say goodbye. The first song that leapt immediately to mind is Rachel's song, "Royal Blue," which features the great chorus, "Do not be afraid."
But the song that grabbed me, and brought tears to my eyes as I drove around yesterday, was "In White Light." (click on the song title for a clip of it...) I thought about all those folks gathered to say goodbye to her. I don't believe Rachel was saying goodbye to everyone through this song. But now, in retrospect, it's easy, and hard, to hear it that way. Had to pull the car over when the last verse came on.
Any song about the moon is also going to remind me of song circles at Kerrville. I can remembersome of the circles, last year I think, at SingKerrnicity, which was a favorite camp of Rachel's. The moon was so bright, that the SingKerrnicity folks moved their circle out into the meadow, and just let the light of the moon shine down on everyone. Out at the Ranch, it really does bathe everyone with an incredible white light....and on the fields and meadows...the tops of your heads. And you can see everyone, but not their faces...just the glowing outlines. So, as you sit around the circles, it's as if the
music comes out of nowhere, out of these shapes across the circle from you. And the moon bathes and graces it all. I have a memory of Rachel there, singing in the moonlight.
I hope many of you will visit her website, and buy her music. I know that that is a way that her legacy can continue, and that you can help her help her children in the future.
In White Light
Words and music by Rachel Bissex
"The sun goes down
the moon comes up
lighting the earth
just enough
to see my face looking up
at her full size on the horizon.
Mama did her best, it's true.
Papa too.
Now they're gone
i'm on my own
the moon will see me safely home
as I drive this road alone
she will bathe me in white light.
In white light....
The sun come up
the moon dissapears
but she'll be back later on my dear
tonight she'll shine
with a little less light
with all her might.
I pushed a boy into the world
now he wears a uniform
I bore a son
my only one
the moon will see him safely home
as he walks his path alone
she will bathe him in white light
In white light....
It's time to go
i hope you know
the moon will see you safely home
as you live your life alone
she will bathe you in white light
In white light...."
thought more and more about her. I swapped emails with Annie Wenz this week. Annie was a very good friend of Rachel's, and in addition to being a fine singer-songwriter, she was a psych nurse for many years. I told Annie I could think of no one better to help Rachel and her family through those last days than her. I think she'll probably post some of her own thoughts about Rachel's life and death as the days pass.
For my part, I found myself listening to a lot of Rachel's music yesterday. It was sort of a way to be in spiritual solidarity with all those who were gathered, during those same moments, in Vermont to say goodbye. The first song that leapt immediately to mind is Rachel's song, "Royal Blue," which features the great chorus, "Do not be afraid."
But the song that grabbed me, and brought tears to my eyes as I drove around yesterday, was "In White Light." (click on the song title for a clip of it...) I thought about all those folks gathered to say goodbye to her. I don't believe Rachel was saying goodbye to everyone through this song. But now, in retrospect, it's easy, and hard, to hear it that way. Had to pull the car over when the last verse came on.
Any song about the moon is also going to remind me of song circles at Kerrville. I can remembersome of the circles, last year I think, at SingKerrnicity, which was a favorite camp of Rachel's. The moon was so bright, that the SingKerrnicity folks moved their circle out into the meadow, and just let the light of the moon shine down on everyone. Out at the Ranch, it really does bathe everyone with an incredible white light....and on the fields and meadows...the tops of your heads. And you can see everyone, but not their faces...just the glowing outlines. So, as you sit around the circles, it's as if the
music comes out of nowhere, out of these shapes across the circle from you. And the moon bathes and graces it all. I have a memory of Rachel there, singing in the moonlight.
I hope many of you will visit her website, and buy her music. I know that that is a way that her legacy can continue, and that you can help her help her children in the future.
In White Light
Words and music by Rachel Bissex
"The sun goes down
the moon comes up
lighting the earth
just enough
to see my face looking up
at her full size on the horizon.
Mama did her best, it's true.
Papa too.
Now they're gone
i'm on my own
the moon will see me safely home
as I drive this road alone
she will bathe me in white light.
In white light....
The sun come up
the moon dissapears
but she'll be back later on my dear
tonight she'll shine
with a little less light
with all her might.
I pushed a boy into the world
now he wears a uniform
I bore a son
my only one
the moon will see him safely home
as he walks his path alone
she will bathe him in white light
In white light....
It's time to go
i hope you know
the moon will see you safely home
as you live your life alone
she will bathe you in white light
In white light...."
--30--
Too Much Death (Rachel Bissex has died. So has my
next-door neighbor)
Feb/21/2005 06:21 PM | Balcony People
| Permalink
I was
planning to blog a little about my quick trip to
Austin last week. But other stuff has been happening
that has sort of pushed that aside. I find that,
during the past few weeks, a lot of folks I know, one
way or another, have died. More than usual.
A couple of weeks ago, the Mom of a very old friend. Last Thursday, our next-door-neighbor, Mr. Cooper. He had cancer, but he died of pnuemonia. I saw him a the hospital a couple of days before he died, and he actually looked like a guy on the road to recovery...at least temporarily... certainly not like someone who'd be dead two days later.
Friday, after I got back from my trip to Austin, I went back by his room to see if he was there, and he wasn't. And I just assumed that meant he was able to go home and rest. I saw Mrs. Cooper the next morning, and she told me the news. Just shocking.
Then I was leaving the hospital last Friday, on that same trip to see Mr. Cooper, I just
happened to bump into the director of the preschool at our church, and her husband. He's also been suffering from cancer. They were in for a routine pain management treatment, that was so non-invasive that it's sometimes done in an "outpatient" setting. I shook his hand, and his grip was firm and strong. I thought, yes, he may have cancer, but he's got some time left too.
Yesterday morning, Sunday, I got the word that he had died just a few hours after that. Cardiac arrest, coming out of the "minor" proceedure.
Both those deaths were shocking enough. But this morning, I woke to an email that says Rachel Bissex has died. Rachel was a wonderful human being, and a great, great musician. She had a fantastically giving personal spirit. She had cancer a few years back, and had had to take a lot of time off the road. I remember seeing her at the South Florida Folk Festival last January. It was one of the first gigs she was playing since returning from beating the cancer. (In fact, we shared the mainstage Friday night, at the pre-festival concert...) Her hair was growing back in grey and wirey. But I thought to myself that she looked like she'd beat it.
It was shortlived. Sometime last Fall, it came back again, with a vengeance.
Most of the folk music folks I know can tell you a lot of stories about Rachel, and about what a great person she is. I remember times in song circles with her at Kerrville, and at SWRFA.... sometimes circles that would go until very late at night, with just a few of us sitting around trading songs. She seemed to never tire of trading songs. When she gave you her attention, she gave her FULL attention and care and you felt like she was listening to you and you alone.
The time I remember most was when she came through town back in 2002, and did some recording for my CD, and I was her roadie for a gig in Fort Worth. She was in and around town for about a week, and so I asked her if she'd do some recording. She was incredibly grascious with her time, and drove with me over to the studio where I was recording. She did a harmony vocal on "Free My Hands," and "Love Song That's True." Both songs are still waiting to be released on my CD whenever it gets done...you can listen to the clips here.
She was an especially good trouper since, when we got to the studio, one of the secretaries had a cold that no one had told us about. Sure enough, Rachel caught it!! But she never once complained, even though, if I had been her, I would have been pissed.
I lent her my sound system and drove her to a gig she had in Fort Worth later that week. (At the Flying Saucer, I think...). After the gig, we caught a beer at at Fort Worth Stockyard place that had some guy playing old country songs. Rachel seemed fascinated by the whole cowtown thing.
We had a good time, just driving and talking the 60 mile round trip. She was very proud of her kids. But I know she also worried about them a lot. She was really honored to finally be getting some major recognition for her music (she'd won Wildflower and Kerrville the year before...) I remember she said she might do some theater down the road, because her husband was into that. (I noticed her obit said she'd directed a play in 2004). Most of all, she had a great way of putting people at ease, and of not taking herself too seriously.
I feel honored to have known her, and I'm terribly sad and shocked that she's gone.
A couple of weeks ago, the Mom of a very old friend. Last Thursday, our next-door-neighbor, Mr. Cooper. He had cancer, but he died of pnuemonia. I saw him a the hospital a couple of days before he died, and he actually looked like a guy on the road to recovery...at least temporarily... certainly not like someone who'd be dead two days later.
Friday, after I got back from my trip to Austin, I went back by his room to see if he was there, and he wasn't. And I just assumed that meant he was able to go home and rest. I saw Mrs. Cooper the next morning, and she told me the news. Just shocking.
Then I was leaving the hospital last Friday, on that same trip to see Mr. Cooper, I just
happened to bump into the director of the preschool at our church, and her husband. He's also been suffering from cancer. They were in for a routine pain management treatment, that was so non-invasive that it's sometimes done in an "outpatient" setting. I shook his hand, and his grip was firm and strong. I thought, yes, he may have cancer, but he's got some time left too.
Yesterday morning, Sunday, I got the word that he had died just a few hours after that. Cardiac arrest, coming out of the "minor" proceedure.
Both those deaths were shocking enough. But this morning, I woke to an email that says Rachel Bissex has died. Rachel was a wonderful human being, and a great, great musician. She had a fantastically giving personal spirit. She had cancer a few years back, and had had to take a lot of time off the road. I remember seeing her at the South Florida Folk Festival last January. It was one of the first gigs she was playing since returning from beating the cancer. (In fact, we shared the mainstage Friday night, at the pre-festival concert...) Her hair was growing back in grey and wirey. But I thought to myself that she looked like she'd beat it.
It was shortlived. Sometime last Fall, it came back again, with a vengeance.
Most of the folk music folks I know can tell you a lot of stories about Rachel, and about what a great person she is. I remember times in song circles with her at Kerrville, and at SWRFA.... sometimes circles that would go until very late at night, with just a few of us sitting around trading songs. She seemed to never tire of trading songs. When she gave you her attention, she gave her FULL attention and care and you felt like she was listening to you and you alone.
The time I remember most was when she came through town back in 2002, and did some recording for my CD, and I was her roadie for a gig in Fort Worth. She was in and around town for about a week, and so I asked her if she'd do some recording. She was incredibly grascious with her time, and drove with me over to the studio where I was recording. She did a harmony vocal on "Free My Hands," and "Love Song That's True." Both songs are still waiting to be released on my CD whenever it gets done...you can listen to the clips here.
She was an especially good trouper since, when we got to the studio, one of the secretaries had a cold that no one had told us about. Sure enough, Rachel caught it!! But she never once complained, even though, if I had been her, I would have been pissed.
I lent her my sound system and drove her to a gig she had in Fort Worth later that week. (At the Flying Saucer, I think...). After the gig, we caught a beer at at Fort Worth Stockyard place that had some guy playing old country songs. Rachel seemed fascinated by the whole cowtown thing.
We had a good time, just driving and talking the 60 mile round trip. She was very proud of her kids. But I know she also worried about them a lot. She was really honored to finally be getting some major recognition for her music (she'd won Wildflower and Kerrville the year before...) I remember she said she might do some theater down the road, because her husband was into that. (I noticed her obit said she'd directed a play in 2004). Most of all, she had a great way of putting people at ease, and of not taking herself too seriously.
I feel honored to have known her, and I'm terribly sad and shocked that she's gone.
--30--
Only the Beginning: I confess my undying love for the
band, Chicago.
Feb/03/2005 06:25 PM | Balcony People
| Permalink
Bought two
CDs the other day: "Chicago: The Very Best of: Only
the Beginning."
Man! I love this disk!! If you have been looking for just ONE Chicago CD to own, this should be it.
Some of you who know my music may be surprised to find that for many years of my life, I was a HUGE Chicago fan. I still am. They're not making as much music as they once did, of course, but I'm still a fan...
This two-CD anthology traces their career all the way back to "the beginning." It's got every hit that ever made it on to the charts for them. This is important, because their "Greatest Hit" collections usually center on the MONSTER hits. This one includes everything that ever charted for them...which is most of the songs in this collection. The CD has a great synopsis of their career, and really intricate liner notes about each song, and where it finished on the charts.
Here are some of Chicago's stats:
-- Five consecutive number one albums
-- 20 Top Ten Singles
-- Fifteen platinum albums
-- Thirty -seven songs that charted at some level over the years.
I was always a HUGE fan. I am the proud owner of every single one of Chicago's studio releases... That's 21 LPs.
Significant for me, is the inclusion of songs like "Happy Man," and "Another Rainy Day in New York City." Those were always favorites of mine, but I didn't know anyone else liked them. The collection also has some early songs like "Questions 67 and 68, "I'm a Man," and "Free."
One of my very favorite pieces of music is the "Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon," from Chicago II. Many folks don't realize that "Make Me Smile" and "Color My World" were both lifted from this longer work. I love to listen to the whole thing. (It's NOT on this hits collection, btw...) Can you imagine ANY band putting out a fifteen minute song today?!
I know, I know...a lot of folks will slam them for going for the cheap ballads during the later years. And those ballads certainly aren't my own personal favorites. But, it seems to me you have to admire a group that can just last that long....a group that can have top ten smash hits in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. The set of folks who did that is very, very small.
I, for one, never begrudge artists for changing with the times, and doing what they can to get their stuff out there. The music business is pretty tough, and that kind of longevity really IS rare.
So anyway, I've been really digging this compilation, and really enjoying going down memory lane.
Those who don't know their earlier as well may be surprised to find that they had a lot of
politically edgy stuff back in the day. A song called "Song for Richard and His Friends," was a scathing anti-war anthem during the Vietnaam era.
There was a great interview of Robert Lamm and James Pankow a couple of years back in Performing Songwriter Magazine. Here's a transcript of the entire interview.
Another song that is bitingly political, but most folks don't get, is "Dialogue (Parts I and II)" from Chicago V. For some reason, the song didn't make it on the first "Greatest Hits" compilation, despite the fact that it climbed to #24 on the charts at the time. The positive-feeling music masks some really biting lyrics. And I thought I'd post them for you today. Because, it strikes me that in a lot of ways, we're right back in the same place again. There are so many folks out there today who think the world is "just fine." There are many more of us who think we've never been in a bigger mess.
So, take a look at the lyrics. In the original song, Terry Kath asks all the questions, and Peter Cetera gives the answers. I like to imagine that George W Bush is giving the answers today:
Dialogue, by Chicago
"Part I
Are you optimistic 'bout the way things are going?
No, I never ever think of it at all
Don't you ever worry
When you see what's going down?
No, I try to mind my business, that is, no business at all
When it's time to function as a feeling human being
Will your Bachelor of Arts help you get by?
I hope to study further, a few more years or so
I also hope to keep a steady high
Will you try to change things
Use the power that you have, the power of a million new ideas?
What is this power you speak of and this need for things to change?
I always thought that everything was fine
Don't you feel repression just closing in around?
No, the campus here is very, very free
Don't it make you angry the way war is dragging on?
Well, I hope the President knows what he's into, I don't know
Don't you ever see the starvation in the city where you live
All the needless hunger all the needless pain?
I haven't been there lately, the country is so fine
But my neighbors don't seem hungry 'cause they haven't got the time
Thank you for the talk, you know you really eased my mind
I was troubled by the shapes of things to come
Well, if you had my outlook your feelings would be numb
You'd always think that everything was fine"
Part two is still true, despite how many naive people there are out there:
Part II
"We can make it happen
We can change the world now
We can save the children
We can make it better
We can make it happen
We can save the children
We can make it happen"
Man! I love this disk!! If you have been looking for just ONE Chicago CD to own, this should be it.
Some of you who know my music may be surprised to find that for many years of my life, I was a HUGE Chicago fan. I still am. They're not making as much music as they once did, of course, but I'm still a fan...
This two-CD anthology traces their career all the way back to "the beginning." It's got every hit that ever made it on to the charts for them. This is important, because their "Greatest Hit" collections usually center on the MONSTER hits. This one includes everything that ever charted for them...which is most of the songs in this collection. The CD has a great synopsis of their career, and really intricate liner notes about each song, and where it finished on the charts.
Here are some of Chicago's stats:
-- Five consecutive number one albums
-- 20 Top Ten Singles
-- Fifteen platinum albums
-- Thirty -seven songs that charted at some level over the years.
I was always a HUGE fan. I am the proud owner of every single one of Chicago's studio releases... That's 21 LPs.
Significant for me, is the inclusion of songs like "Happy Man," and "Another Rainy Day in New York City." Those were always favorites of mine, but I didn't know anyone else liked them. The collection also has some early songs like "Questions 67 and 68, "I'm a Man," and "Free."
One of my very favorite pieces of music is the "Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon," from Chicago II. Many folks don't realize that "Make Me Smile" and "Color My World" were both lifted from this longer work. I love to listen to the whole thing. (It's NOT on this hits collection, btw...) Can you imagine ANY band putting out a fifteen minute song today?!
I know, I know...a lot of folks will slam them for going for the cheap ballads during the later years. And those ballads certainly aren't my own personal favorites. But, it seems to me you have to admire a group that can just last that long....a group that can have top ten smash hits in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. The set of folks who did that is very, very small.
I, for one, never begrudge artists for changing with the times, and doing what they can to get their stuff out there. The music business is pretty tough, and that kind of longevity really IS rare.
So anyway, I've been really digging this compilation, and really enjoying going down memory lane.
Those who don't know their earlier as well may be surprised to find that they had a lot of
politically edgy stuff back in the day. A song called "Song for Richard and His Friends," was a scathing anti-war anthem during the Vietnaam era.
There was a great interview of Robert Lamm and James Pankow a couple of years back in Performing Songwriter Magazine. Here's a transcript of the entire interview.
Another song that is bitingly political, but most folks don't get, is "Dialogue (Parts I and II)" from Chicago V. For some reason, the song didn't make it on the first "Greatest Hits" compilation, despite the fact that it climbed to #24 on the charts at the time. The positive-feeling music masks some really biting lyrics. And I thought I'd post them for you today. Because, it strikes me that in a lot of ways, we're right back in the same place again. There are so many folks out there today who think the world is "just fine." There are many more of us who think we've never been in a bigger mess.
So, take a look at the lyrics. In the original song, Terry Kath asks all the questions, and Peter Cetera gives the answers. I like to imagine that George W Bush is giving the answers today:
Dialogue, by Chicago
"Part I
Are you optimistic 'bout the way things are going?
No, I never ever think of it at all
Don't you ever worry
When you see what's going down?
No, I try to mind my business, that is, no business at all
When it's time to function as a feeling human being
Will your Bachelor of Arts help you get by?
I hope to study further, a few more years or so
I also hope to keep a steady high
Will you try to change things
Use the power that you have, the power of a million new ideas?
What is this power you speak of and this need for things to change?
I always thought that everything was fine
Don't you feel repression just closing in around?
No, the campus here is very, very free
Don't it make you angry the way war is dragging on?
Well, I hope the President knows what he's into, I don't know
Don't you ever see the starvation in the city where you live
All the needless hunger all the needless pain?
I haven't been there lately, the country is so fine
But my neighbors don't seem hungry 'cause they haven't got the time
Thank you for the talk, you know you really eased my mind
I was troubled by the shapes of things to come
Well, if you had my outlook your feelings would be numb
You'd always think that everything was fine"
Part two is still true, despite how many naive people there are out there:
Part II
"We can make it happen
We can change the world now
We can save the children
We can make it better
We can make it happen
We can save the children
We can make it happen"
--30--