The onset of Autumn or Winter can be a challenge for some, but nearing the end of September- here in the Schoener Schweiz, festivities are underway celebrating the changing of the seasons with the annual Alpabzug (Alpdescent). Herds are guided back down into the valleys – after spending the glorious summer months grazing on the highlands, to spend the coming winter in the stalls. As part of the seasons festivities cows are decorated with flowers and donned with big cow bells.
Size matters The harvest is also essential to this time of year. Reaping the fruits of the farmers labour is at task – it brings with it ehrgeiz. Competitions are held and entrants basically show off their largest prize Veg. The competition for the biggest pumpkin is held each October in Seegräben (canton Zurich) and last year Beni Maier brought along a pumpkin weighing 768.5 kilograms – the heaviest pumpkin in Europe, 2012.
Setting the tone There are a couple of very good tracks to choose from to set the tone – for example: R&J Stone‘s; The World Is Just A Great Big Onion, Harvest by Neil Young, also Harvest For The World – The Isley Brothers, or Needle In A Haystack from The Velvelettes, or even Seasons In The Sun by Terry Jacks at a push. But in honour of tradition I’m leaving you with classic, original schwyzerörgeli folks music ( diatonic button accordian) by Josias Jenny (1920 – 1989). The piece is called ‘Metzgete bim Karl’. Enjoy!
After a long hiatus, reverb is back on track with news from London and Broadstairs – that sleepy seaside town in the south-east of England has got a few tricks up its sleeve.
London as ever is a great place to get your teeth into all that is musical, but my travels took me further afield to Kent. The Chapel – formerly the Albion bookshop, is now a micropub. The venue remains a bookshop with amazing volumes to peruse through at your leisure while supping local ale and wine. Evenings at The Chapel transform this lovely booky haven into a small venue for local musicians to take part in Jazz open stage nights and open mic nights for budding songwriters and performers alike. It ‘s here where I met Nyle Holihan, a half Californian, half Kenyan 20-year-old studying in East London – more to the point he’s an amazing banjo player. He plays old-time folk banjo in the frailing style, along with harmonica, guitar and some fiddle. The songs he played were all traditional, mostly Appalachian, American folk songs, Shady Grove, Country Blues, Roustabout and Cindy. He says he started playing banjo as he knew a family that played in a bluegrass band together, he loved the sound of the banjo but bluegrass was too abrasive for him. And as was already a big fan of Dylan it wasn’t a stretch to reach back a bit past Woody Guthrie and listen through The Anthology of American Folk Music to pick up some tunes.
Unfortunately the recording I have of Nyle doesn’t do him justice to load up on reverb but I’m sure you’ll be hearing more from him in the future and I hope he’ll send me some footage of his talent so more news on him I hope very soon.
Thanks for visiting. It’s my first day on the blog and I’m happy you could look in.
The content I’ll be producing for ReVerb is basically old or new stuff which I pick up on and find interesting. I hope you get some benefit from it and I look forward to being part of the community!
I’ll be posting also in German once I get the hang of things here – so I’ll let you know a.s.a.p.
Please let me know what you think (without being too abusive) in the near future. Look forward to sharing and hearing from you.
Once I Was An Eagle
Is the new Album release by Laura Marling, due for out on 27th May. Her last body of brilliance; A Creature I Don’t Know, in 2011 was critically acclaimed and needless to say I am a big fan of all her music. Check out her website: www.lauramarling.com PLUS If you like her, you may be partial to a bit of the following: the likes of Joni Mitchell, Cat Power, Ryan Adams, Beth Orton.
Dr Feelgood’s Wilko Johnsons bows out in true style
Wilko Johnson (born John Peter Wilkinson, 12 July 1947) is making his farewell tour. The musician announced the tour after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Full interview can be found on: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21187740
Wilco Johnson, also singer of his namesake band – was greatly known as guitarist with Dr Feelgood in the 1970s. Johnson and Dr Feelgood have been credited as one of the founding influences- or the DNA of the English punk movement. He is also associated with Ian Dury and the Blockheads and guest musician of the Stranglers to boot. Milk And Alcohol being one the best known Feelgood songs, here via You Tube for your great pleasure.
Oil City Confidential
Oil City Confidential is Julien Temple’s last film in his trilogy on British music of the 1970’s. It is a prequel to his landmark films about punk figureheads and focuses on Canvey Island band Dr Feelgood.Available on DVD http://bit.ly/bPj6oW
Launched across UK in 39 cinemas on 2nd Feb, it is now on limited theatrical release in the UK (Written by Producer Stephen Malit)
Gem Andrews does indeed write and play great songs – But the song Ladybird mentioned in his piece was actually written by Nicky Rushton of Mush. So now we’ve got that out the way…
My current affliction – albeit a good one, was the main, Mark Eitzel and Band.
Having not heard anything by him before, I was bit baffled by his performance. The amazing beginning to the show were thwarted half way by his intermission story about the ‘bitch’ behind the counter of a bakery who wouldn’t smile or fain niceties while he bought a croissant. At this stage you think; OK, if he’s not a sad lad he wouldn’t be carrying that little jewel around in his pocket to reproduce on stage. This anecdote was one of the couple small evils he delivered between songs. But having just slagged him for that, the band were a little worse for wear due to injuries endured over the 2 months of their touring. Eitzel had a toe injury and the drummer was playing with a cast on one arm. Perhaps fatigue was running thick and patience thin.
His music is brilliant, the likes of Rufus along with sister Martha are of a similar genre- he also reminded me a smidgin of Tim Buckley – his audience – mainly men, were whooped up by his mere presence and were obviously seasoned fans. But for his stories, sorry, wasn’t impressed.
My very last pet peeve was listening to his CDs. The rawness, guts and sincerity of his on-stage performance seemed to be virtually non existent on CD Don’t Be A Stranger – it’s polished, ironed out and very produced sounding, leaving his music somehow faint in strength and without grit, which I missed very much after hearing him live. Having said all of that I would definitely go see him in concert again.
His latest Album, Don’t Be A Stranger, came out 2012.
Born 4th October 1944, daughter to publican father – who died of pneumonia when Sill was 8 years old, and alcoholic mother. Judee Sill – while still under age fled the family home, ill-equipped for the life that followed, she illegally married under-age, which was consequently annulled – her demons later led her to armed robbery, prostitution and drugs – the latter killing her in 1979. She was 35 years old when she died of a drug overdose, after fighting her addiction for some time.
Sill, her appearance Librarian-esque, is one of the relatively unsung heroines that didn’t make it. All her attempts to get clean and promote her music were an uphill struggle but David Geffen from Asylum Records took her on his books – she was the first artist to sign to Asylum – then came the likes of Joni Mitchell, Carol King Linda Ronstadt. Graham Nash produced Sills’ first song for Asylum: Jesus Was A Cross Maker. She was an equal to her contemporaries and produced similar style of Singer Songwriter melodies, though Sills’ songs seemed to me more spiritual in comparison. After she wrote Jesus … she was quoted to say, “If I had not written that song, there would have remained only suicide.”
Many artists have since covered the song and other material of hers, among others The Hollies and Judie Tzuke. I leave you with the original and in honour of a true cross bearer.
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