String Theory Media

new work: raul malo and sugar magnolia

Sometimes, amid the flow of video over here at STM HQ, I actually find my way back to writing prose, and I'm happy to have these two relatively new items out there.

The new album Sinners & Saints is coming very soon (Oct. 5) from the magnificent Raul Malo. I wrote the bio for the project, and you can find it HERE. An excerpt:

Self-produced in his home studio and brimming with deeply personal beliefs and passions, Sinners & Saints is the most intimate, honest and complex album Malo has made in an already distinguished career. You will hear in it a lifetime’s journey, from the singer and songwriter’s youth in the Cuban neighborhoods of Miami through his years with hit country band the Mavericks to his place today as one of the most intriguing and talented artists in the Americana and World Music scenes. 

And in more of an essay vein, I wrote this month's Behind The Song column for American Songwriter magazine. The subject was a song I had practically on auto-repeat through the summer of 1986. Yes, that was fifteen years after it was released, but those of us not born into the 1960s music revolution had to investigate and indulge in it in our own time and on our own terms. The full article is HERE. The takeaway:

How could “Sugar Magnolia” not resonate with college-aged me? Intimations of a year-round summer? A pretty girl glistening with water on a sunshine morning? A secret spot back in the woods? Its poetry was specific enough to elicit pictures and cryptic enough to fuel fantasies. Besides, I’m from the South, so magnolias trigger all kinds of complex sense memories, from climbing their sturdy branches to dangerous heights as a kid, to their sticky sweet and erotic scent. But of course, it was the musical package on that iconic recording that took me. The harmonies are frayed, like a comfortable pair of jeans, and the lilting tempo and Jerry Garcia’s touch-ups with pedal steel guitar made the track an absolute classic and a joyful sing-along.

got americana?

It was gratifying to see such generous and appreciative preview coverage of this week’s Americana Music Conference and Festival in our own Nashville Scene. Esteemed writer Edd Hurt says Americana has turned some important corners recently in its decade-old journey to becoming recognized as a focal point and magnet for some of the best music in the world. The new Americana Album Grammy category was introduced. And the field is breaking artists. He cites the Avett Brothers, and he quotes Sarah Jarosz, who is selling surprising numbers for a crossover bluegrass/folk artist. He might also have mentioned Ryan Bingham who took an Academy Award for his work on the film Crazy Heart or the Steep Canyon Rangers, an Ashville-born bluegrass band that’s been touring for a year to big audiences as collaborators with comedian-turned-banjo star Steve Martin.

As for the AMA’s annual event, Hurt says: “It's a well-run trade show with a homey atmosphere, and the range of performers — everyone from country singer Elizabeth Cook to punk-rocker Jon Langford — is impressive. Attending the festival is a bit like time travel, since Americana artists are often well-established artists who have settled into comfortable mid-level careers, or new artists who work within the grooves of styles popular decades ago.” And indeed, lined up for appearances this week are Shelby Lynne, Susan Cowsill, Guy Clark, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Exene Cervenka and the legendary Wanda Jackson, among others. From the get-go, Americana was as much about keeping classic artists in play amid a fickle marketplace as it was about developing new talent. And I believe it’s done a great job at both of those things. There’s a knockout lineup of new and emerging artists slated for this week, and I’d particularly recommend Courtney Jaye, 18 South, the Sweetback Sisters, Dread Clampitt and Tristen.

I’m looking forward to this year’s convention as much as I ever have, and in case you haven’t fully focused on the range of activities, seminars, book and film events and music showcases this thing actually produces, then take some time to do so. I’d argue there’s no more vital or varied a music event in Nashville. It’s where you’re most likely to be surprised and astonished, as when John Fogerty played a stunning, passionate set at the Mercy Lounge last year.

I’m also excited because our team at Music City Roots has joined forces with AMA, and this week’s show featuring Chuck Mead, the Steeldrivers, Manda Mosher, Madison Violet and Corb Lund will be an official AMA kick-off event at our usual time of Wednesday at 7 pm at the Loveless Barn. Here’s my preview of the show, along with some background about why Americana music matters now more than ever. 

impossible music's remarkable mission and other news

For weeks I've been bookmarking interesting String Theory-friendly stories with hopes of sharing them here. At last, a quiet Sunday morning (for the time being)...

My loathing of theocratic dictatorship took on new levels of intensity after Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei decreed that music is "incompatible" with the values of the Islamic Republic and basically banned MUSIC. In PERSIA, a place with thousands of years of musical tradition and a history of musical dialogue with the West. Had it not been for this farcical and maniacal decree, however, I might not have learned about Impossible Music, an inspiring non-profit in New York that seeks out oppressed and censored musicians and works out ways to get their music performed and to get the composers and artists involved via technology. A Wall St Journal piece a couple weeks ago profiled the group and its mastermind, musician and writer Austin Dacey, who calls Impossible Music an "underground railroad for musicians." IM is in turn backed in part by Freemuse, an international organization that documents abuse of freedom of expression around the world. This might be a good chance to observe the fact that coming up in October you can watch out for events tied in with Daniel Pearl World Music Days, a celebration of the life and legacy of murdered journalist/musician Daniel Pearl. I'm lining up such a show in Nashville and more on that soon.

In other news, yet another classical music critic has been reassigned, and wouldn't you know it, to the celebrity news beat. Because of course there aren't enough sources for news about Lohan, Hilton et al. He laments the situation HERE. . . .The size and scope of the U.S. military's music infrastructure became a hot topic after SecDef Robert Gates revived an old quasi-fact that America has more military musicians on the payroll than foreign service officers. . . .A composer and inventor in New York is developing an iPad or iPhone app that can snap a picture of a page of sheet music and then play it back as a practice aid. He's released a halfway-there tool that puts several powerful studio tools in your hands and on your glossy little screen of wonder. . . And experimental musician Nick Franglen used a Theremin and other electronics to turn London Bridge into a giant musical instrument.