A New Holiday Classic

And a shameless self-promotional plug...

A couple years ago my friend Michael Gruber invited me over to co-write a tune. We had a title and imagined ourselves writing a new Christmas classic. Somehow the session devolved into playing Foosball, drinking beer, and spinning vinyl. But we did eventually find our way to writing a folk gospel holiday song; a look at the nativity scene from the wisemen's perspective. Let the angel chorus proclaim Hallelujah!

Last year we got around to recording a four part harmony rendition, with some guitar, bass, and percussion. At that point, we thought we'd had our say.

This year, Michael added some more drums and percussion, slide guitar, organ, piano and mandolin samples.  An epiphany indeed! A 2012 remix!

The result is now available on CdBaby.com. If you're willing to drop a couple e-bucks you can download a copy to add to your favorite Holiday Playlist.  Can you dig it?!

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/thepalaceflophouseplayer4

Happy Holidays and a very Happy New Year!

Jason Isbell and Americana

Isbell in Madison, WI, 2007.   

I've often been aware of how "place" fits in to so many good songs, not to mention the presumptive worldview of so many good musicians, writers, and other artists. 

This recent CBS News post about northern Alabama native Jason Isbell's "great year" at the Americana Music Association (AMA) awards caught my eye. The AMAs are a sort of Grammy's for the American "roots music" crowd. Other favorite artists of mine in this vein include Justin Townes Earl, Gillian Welch, The Avett Brothers, The Secret Sisters (also mentioned in the CBS article), and many others. 

Tonight they'll all gather in Nashville and, as Isbell recently tweeted "get to dress like @JustinTEarle for a while!" Funny guy.

I wrote about Isbell and his band the 400 Unit back in 2007 for Madison's alt-weekly newspaper Isthmus. I've been a fan since DBT days of "Outfit" and "Danko/Manuel." His latest album Here We Rest is nominated for album of the year.

"Isbell's upbringing left him with a strong sense of place," writes Chris Talbott of CBS, "...he's used it to turn heads in the Southern songwriting community, first as a member of the Drive-By Truckers and later as a solo artist."

The piece also quotes John Paul White of The Civil Wars, noting the strength of place-based lyrical attributes. While this approach is nothing new, it seems that generation after generation of songwriters (and others) rediscover such basic knowledge again and again.

I've blogged about this connection before, here. Now go out and find yourself some good "local" music!

Lucinda, Townes, and the Songwriting of Place

The excerpt below was taken from a recent American Songwriter piece highlighting Lucinda Williams and, more specifically, the influence of songwriter Townes Van Zandt on her and her development as an artist.

His love songs were very romantic, very beautiful. I loved [their] earthiness. He had an obvious sense of place. Oftentimes, he’d have references to different parts of the country, like his song “Snowin’ on Raton.” I’ve done that a lot in my writing. He wrote a lot about cities and towns and rivers, and he used a lot of that imagery. When you heard Townes, you knew it was him. He had a way of writing very simply and sparingly, and yet being very evocative and effective. That’s one of the things I’ve strived to do over the years in my writing.


Image of Townes Van Zandt, stolen from AmericanSongwriter.com

People often reference places in songs, but evoking a sense of place is more than mere mention of some street corner or lonesome road. It is more like painting with words the textures of a landscape, evoking the visible and the invisible, the seen and the sensed, the magic and mystery of some special place.

Are there songs (or songwriters) that evoke a special sense of place for you?  For me, artists such as Tom Waits and the Drive-By Truckers exemplify these qualities. Who else?