The Wonder Show of the World

New bonny bonny album is out... available from Drag City.
Stop by for a copy.
In the meantime, why not pick up a Billy-inspired cork as well?

Don't ask me, I just deliver the bonny news.

Bonnie & the Cairo Gang, Oakland

@ The New Parish
April 9th & 10th

I'll See You in My Dreams

♥ S.L.M. ♥
December 17, 1929 - September 8, 2009

You Can That Heaven Here...

Sanctified

Hiking today I learned that Fairfax, California (north of the Golden Gate) is home to some slippery friends: rattlesnakes. Climbing up over Cascade Falls I came face to face with this young fella. The yellow bands indicate that he's a juvenile. Young one or not, he was huge and absolutely unmoved by me.

Snakes have a strange power; walking back I jumped at the slightest movement of every single blade of grass. It makes perfect sense why serpents hold such an important place in folklore.

The experience reminded me of this piece of footage I'd seen back in the late '90s. Snake handling at a Jolo, West Virginia Pentecostal Church. - Looking for a little faith? Try Mark 16 set to rockabilly accompanied by some downright fancy footwork.



Keep in mind this footage is relatively contemporary.

Frenz

Fleisher/Ollman Gallery's exhibit of works selected by Will Oldham.
It's called Frenz. With performance, too. Philadelphia, PA.

Like the End of Something Wonderful

Were you worried Billy'd crossed over to the other side? Me too. I guess we were wrong. Today's New York Times sports a long-deserved and up-front review of the new album which is weirdly flattering and, at the same time, disparaging.

"Mr. Oldham’s persona is a little bit of a lonesome romantic and a lot of a fool. He sounds generally optimistic, even when he’s singing about treachery...He never flatters himself. He’s not special. His love is effortful and can be one-sided. He’s easily satisfied. He can’t be counted on... Something is always lost in translation with him."

My favorite is the last line in reference to breadth and depth of talent in his accompanying musicians, "There’s a sense here of smart people being made to focus on a strange project."
It's refreshing to see he can still make the critics stutter.

I Am Goodbye

New bonnie video from Drag City

Featured bonnie article from The Wire

And a picture gallery

He Who Would Be Prince

Bonnie's getting a lot of press lately, e.g. this boring interview. (Can I just ask, who is McLaughlin talking about when he says that "many" compare Oldham to Dylan? Jesus. Please.) Anyway, check it out simply for the ancient "Horses" video plucked from youtube.

Old Jerusalem

Fillmore Will

Bonnie "Prince" Billy at the Fillmore.
March 30th, 2009 - 8pm.
Tickets are for sale and still available.

The Pretender

Will Oldham transfigures American music.
by Kalefa Sanneh. Courtesy of The New Yorker, January 5, 2009.

A Bonnie Preview

The new Bonnie 'Prince' Billy album, Beware, due out on March 17th, has a welcome preview and interview here. Enjoy it. The new song is called You Can't Hurt Me Now. He also performs Palace/Music/Songs/Brothers favorite The Brute Choir. So nice.

In response to his thoughts about being quoted by writer Graeme Thomson, Will talks not only about the utility of death in music, but a bit about death, generally, as he sees it: "Sometimes you just want something to end so that you can go on, go free."

Beware

That's right... another Bonnie Prince Billy album is due to be released March 2009. Guests include Leroy Bach, Jim Becker, Jon Langford, Greg Leisez, Rob Mazurek, Nicole Mitchell and Azita Youssefi.

That news pretty much made my day.

Is it the Sea is a live album that was released in September, way more worthwhile than the "more accessible, less academic", Lie Down in the Light. I haven't officially reviewed it, basically because I was wildly disappointed.

Oh well, here's to a new album/ new year.

Sprout Wings and Fly

"'They tell me you're master of the old time fiddle'. I said, 'Now, mister, they ain't nobody mastered the fiddle. Ther's notes in that fiddle ain't nobody found.' I said, 'Ther's music in that thing that'll be there when Gabriel toots his horn.'"



You can watch Sprout Wings and Fly along with a documentary featuring Tommy Jarrell's sister entitled Julie: Old Time Tales of the Blue Ridge.
Here's a preview.

I Keep My Horse At Stable Will's

After missing Bonnie Billy in Big Sur last weekend, we got a free shot today at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival. We also ran up on him quite unexpectedly on our way out. Come to find out he's an artist in residence at the Headlands Center for the Arts. This means a chance to recompense for the lost concert. Anyway, thanks to Will for fulfilling expectations and being something quite other than a typical musician/ performer. Thanks for walking a different line.

Swamp Girl

"She is a legend. She is a myth. She is Swamp Girl. Growing up on the Okefenokee, abandoned by her parents, Swamp Girl was raised by a black man she calls Pa. Trouble reins for Swamp Girl when another girl who happens to be a psycho prison escapee and her boyfriend force Swamp Girl to be their local Swamp guide. Things get nasty when Swamp Girl battles Convict Girl in an all out catfight." That, a little Ferlin Husky crooning, and more bad ass snakes than you can shake a stick at, makes for fine Sunday night respite.

We do indeed have the double feature including Swamp Country (1966), which we've saved for a rainy day. Sadly, we missed out on the extra added attraction, Swamp Virgin (1947). What gives?

Share the Love

I failed to mention that the Bonnie-concert is actually a benefit for the Big Sur Volunteer Fire Brigade. Certainly a worthy cause. Also, the performance will be at the Henry Miller Library, a perfect venue, strangely spared from the fires. And finally, tickets are still available. That's right.

(In case you're interested, Ramblin' Jack Elliott headlines the previous night. The man can spin a yarn.... ramble on and on. You'll even get a tune here and there. And, if you're lucky, he'll share the stage with some beardo who will leave you just a little unnerved at night's end. It's all part of the folk-rock experience.)

**Will Oldham, Big Sur, Sept 28th**

I am so happy
I am almost in tears.
Unbelievable!

Shape Note Singing

It's interesting to note that over the years I've developed a distinct preference for a very specific vocal style. Listen to Derroll Adams, certain numbers of the Harry Smith collection, and, you guessed it, Will Oldham, and a common sound emerges. And I don't think it's as simple as lumping them all into the Appalachian influence genre, as one is wont to do.

Recently, The Partner smartly picked up on the strange likeness to Sacred Harp or Shape Note singing which emerged from spirituals of the south. The initial idea was that vocals could be learned quickly and easily if notations were written as shapes and sung as syllables. "Syllables and notes of a shape note system are not tied to particular pitches (e.g. fa to C) rather, they depend on the key of the piece, so that the tonic note of the key always has the same syllable (fa) and for the other notes of the scale*."

What seemed to emerge was a very peculiar and particular way of "shaping" the sung notes. Listen closely. Even if there isn't time to comprehend it in its entirety, shape note singing is certainly worth a listen and is definitely an influence to be given ample attention.