Silver Louise

Late-life John Fahey drone territory. Yep.

The CalArts orchestra opened for them with some interesting student compositions, my favorite of which involved an electric microtonal guitar!!!

Jimmy and his wife adopted me from the get-go, and as a result I have had many opportunities to participate in local mountain culture. For example, the second week I lived there I went on a bear hunt with Jimmy and his friends - and their fifteen hound dogs (walkers, blue ticks, plots). We got up at 5AM and hiked up to the top of a ridge and watched the fog pooling pink around the mountains below. We passed an echoey mica mine that had to be abandoned when the miners struck water as we looked for fresh bear sign in the leaves. Bear hunters keep their hounds on leashes until they find a fresh track and then release them (to be found later via radio collars). If hounds are pursuing an animal downhill, the hunters know they are following a deer, but if the dog is chasing uphill, it's a bear, and you better be ready. Luckily, no one shot a bear that day, because I don't think I would have been able to keep myself from yelling, "No! Stop!" and offending some of the most sincere and knowledgeable nature lovers out there. Bear hunting is just one example of an activity I would have previously judged unfairly, but so long as it is done sustainably, so long as the meat is eaten, and as long as the dogs are lovingly cared-for, I think it's just fine. 

And yes, that is my puppy. She is now a little over a year old and is one of my dearest companions. 

I found the painfully honest/vulnerable journal absolutely addictive and can only hope that more musicians/artists will combine their disciplines in such lovely (and affordable!) objects.  

I kinda can't believe I haven't already shared this Julius Hemphill track off his 1972 album Dogon A.D. It's been a favorite for several years now, and I hope some of y'all enjoy it too!

Here's a track off David Lang's album Elevated. Upon initially hearing this piece, I had to listen to it about 20 more times to try to wrap my head around it (it has since edged it's way up to my 2nd most-played song, right after Michael Jackson's P.Y.T.). This track seems to hover and shift without resolution, and yet it is very soothing at the same time. It's one of those tracks that makes me wish I knew something (anything!) about music theory.

In case you haven't noticed, I haven't posted for awhile. I've been living up a gravel road without internet and have been too busy making music, gardening, and teaching highschool art to post. Good excuse, right? I'm visiting the grid for a week and will hopefully be scheduling some more posts before heading back to the sticks. To start, here is a piece from one of my favorite contemporary visual artists, Tauba Auerbach. In the past she has designed some album covers, but to my knowledge, this is her first piece that actually produces sound. LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! 

Happy Holidays! 

You could call George Stavis one of the fathers of melodic banjo. Although I'm not really a fan of what melodic banjo has generally turned into, I think Stavis' album Labyrinths has got it going on. Jazz, Indian Classical, Fahey - it's all here. Incidentally, it's also got one of the most ridiculous album covers of all time, which is not a bad thing. 

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Like Folkstreams, the Digital Library of Appalachia is another incredible resource for all things rural. With free downloads of field recordings from the archives of different Appalachian universities, you can't go wrong. Might I suggest starting with the lined-out hymns? 

Honestly, I'm posting this track mostly for the album cover. It's got everything good: a banjo, mountains, a handmade quilt and a dog. This is the only solo banjo album that I know of that John Fahey's Takoma Records released (speak up if you know of more!). I think the banjo is one of those instruments that can still have a lot more teased out of it.

What a gift. An entire album devoted to Indonesian guitar in its many different forms. And this track is so beautiful and surprising.  While the names Alan Lomax or Moses Asch may first come to mind when you think of Folkways recordings, you can get recordings from all over the world from this branch of the Smithsonian. I highly recommend checking out their website, where you can browse recordings by country, instrument, language, etc, etc, etc. Some recordings are so rare that they will make a CD for you to order. There's also plenty of oddball field recordings, like sounds from different scientific disciplines, etc, etc, etc. You get the idea. Check it out!!  

With her scores of original tunings, songs that overflow into multiple keys and her spectacularly unique vocal ornamentation and tone, Joni Mitchell is one of my favorite experimental artists. Yes, experimental.