#kai welch

[nofatclips]

Keep on Growing by Nicki Bluhm [Free Download/Name Your Price on BandCamp]

[musiccityroots]

Tick Tock Time - MCR 12.10.14

It’s easy to marvel at the precision of a really well made watch or a Formula One engine. At least I’m into that kind of thing. Exquisite synchronization makes me feel good inside, a bit like music. And we had music that made me feel Swiss watch perfect at Roots this week. When Missy Raines plays bass and Mike Compton plays mandolin, she on the one and he on the answering two, something uplifting and numinous happens. She pushes and he pulls. It’s immaculately quantized, yet incredibly human, like a heart. Everything I ever learned to appreciate about string-band timing and feel is wrapped up in that relaxed, tick-tock, rock-steady beat. And there’s nobody better in the world than these veterans, the heartbeat of the Helen Highwater String Band. Don’t worry, I’ll gush about band-mates Shad Cobb and David Grier for other reasons shortly. But I woke up after the show thinking about the boom-chick, boom-chick mantra evoked by these bluegrass shamans.

Kai Welch’s take on pop has more in common with the Talking Heads or Guster. It’s got space and a light touch. Opener “Perpetually Out Of Fashion” features cool unison voices over a subtle funk. Song number two had metronome clean rhythm and monotone vocals with a wild spark of dissonant electric guitar from Kai. The band of Nashville bad-cats included Heather Robb singing and playing keys, Tommy Hans on guitar and Molly Martin on guest vocals. Picture them in over-the-top Christmas sweaters because that’s what they wore. But the music was a good deal more stylish than that, ranging from Beatles-sweet to the rapturous three-part folk harmonies of “Sweet Abandon” to the tricky, beautiful changes in “Chains.” Watch Kai Welch in 2015. This was the prototype show for a big year ahead.

The second half of Roots this week was about good old country comfort in our bones. We knew Doug Seegers was going to be special, but having only seen that street video that made him famous in Sweden, I didn’t know what kind of stage presence he’d have or how his curve-ball traditional country songs would sound live. The guy was never on big stages before this year, and yet he looked as comfortable, craggy and commanding as Billy Joe Shaver on beta blockers. With a twinkle in his eye, he launched in with a train song, singing with a voice of reedy strength and lonesome pathos. When he goes high, it cuts, and he has a heart-tugging yodel that can’t be taught. The songs are so smart with plain poetic language and little twists on old structures that keep it musically interesting even as it’s emotionally enrapturing. He evoked 70s California country with the breezy “Angie’s Song” and  closed with his breakout song and the title cut from Down To The River. The joy Doug seems to take from singing about strife is infectious and inoculating against the blues.

And that brings us back to the Helen Highwater String Band, which opened with an original called “Time” that seemed to announce its musical intentions. “Time, tick-tock, time,” they sang around one microphone on the chorus. Shad Cobb, one of the quietest bluegrass achievers I know, has a deserved spotlight role in the HHSB, offering clear tenor leads and defining themes with his rich, raw fiddling. The quartet mingled a swing feel with vocal gospel fervor on “Glory Bound” and delved deep into the blues with the Mississippi Sheiks song “Please Baby.” Being an instrumental freak, I took special joy in David Grier’s original guitar tune “Big Dirt Clod.” Sounds funny, but the clean melody and inventive solos by Grier, Cobb and Compton had the guitar geek student in me paying close and serious attention. I became a nutcase fan for Grier and Compton 20 years ago, and yet I’d never seen them really jam together until last night. So wow.

Guest host Peter Cooper opened the show with a John Prine cover (“All The Best”) and closed by leading everyone on “Worried Man Blues,” one of my old faves. He’s done a fine job filling in for Jim these two weeks, so we thank him as always. One more show to go before the year-end break, so make plans to join us next week. As always, it’ll be a fine tick-tock time.

   Craig H.

[musiccityroots]

Real As Dirt - MCR 12.10.14

The preoccupation with authenticity in roots music is not just some trope. It’s not a game or a cliché that we writer types dwell on because we can’t think of anything else to talk about. It’s as close to the heart of what matters about folk music as redemption is to religion or improvement is to sports. Authenticity is the highest, best calling of the art form. But what does it mean?

That’s a big subject of course, but one test is to ask whether an artist would do it the same way for an audience of a thousand or of a million or of two. Would they do it with no expectation of return, simply because they had to? And when you’re listening, can you feel screens and filters and mediators, as with country radio? Or does it feel like a human being speaking in words and musical gestures so vivid they could stroke your cheek or shove you in the chest?

If you followed roots music this year then you’ve probably heard this by now. After a long life of ups and downs that included making music with Buddy Milller decades ago in Austin and raising a family in New York state, Seegers found himself homeless and busking on the streets of Nashville. He sang favorite old songs and originals for passers by downtown, and it’s likely more than a few of Music City’s discerning music fans stopped to remark how much better he was than most street musicians. Yet this went on for years. And in a strange turn of events, it took a Swedish film crew and a popular Swedish TV host to create the unlikely vehicle for Seegers to earn a buzz. Fist it was Sweden, where he’s now a genuine star. Then in Nashville. Rounder Records released his moving, fascinating debut album Going Down To The River.

I first read about Seegers by way of Peter Cooper’s Tennessean story, and then suddenly he was everywhere – in the Wall St. Journal and on NPR. A recent interview with radio show On Point is a great vehicle to hear Doug’s mixture of humility and artistic confidence. During that session, host Jane Clayson brought in Emmylou Harris by phone to testify to Doug’s importance and, yes, authenticity. Harris proclaimed that he lived up to the old Southern compliment “as real as dirt.” Harris, who sings a duet on the album, admired her friend as “somebody who has survived with his artistry, his voice and his soul in tact and then to be discovered and embraced by people.”

Then Doug sings and makes the host cry. Don’t hear that very often

What surprised me about the Seegers album was that it has more layers than a simple three-chord country album. His songs have interesting structural ideas and sophistications that suggest some behind-the-scenes pro with years of Brill Building experience. But nope, these are Doug and Doug is these songs. The real deal, as they say.

It’s a four-for-four week of Roots debuts, and I don’t know which has me most excited. Kai Welch has been a prolific collaborator, including playing with The Greencards, producing the cool new Front Country album and writing/recording with Abigail Washburn, which is where I first heard of him. He’s a native of rural Oregon who somehow made it to Nashville and into the good graces of some of the more sophisticated and searching roots musicians in the country.  I could tell from his prominent role in Washburn’s City of Refuge album (a huge favorite of mine) that Welch has a keen pop sensibility to go along with his folk background. The title track of his debut EP Perpetually Out Of Fashion confirms it with interesting vocal doubling and carefully wrought electric guitar.

The members of the Helen Highwater String Band have all played Roots before, but as leaders and side musicians. Now they’re a band, and what pedigree they have. Mike Compton is the long-time mandolinist for the Nashville Bluegrass Band and a top-flight traditional artist. Missy Raines, leader of the New Hip, brings her award winning acoustic bass to the mix. Fiddler Shad Cobb does more singing in this band than in some of his past projects like the John Cowan Band. And on guitar, one of my all time heroes of acoustic mastery, the idiosyncratic and brilliant David Grier. As I noted upon catching them at World of Bluegrass this Fall, they put more emphasis on vocals than you might expect for such instrumental virtuosos. But I have little doubt we’ll hear their string-picking expertise on display as well.

Wild card of the week for me will be James Apollo, an on-the-go bandleader and songwriter out of Seattle who seems to be earning the love of indie rock bloggers. He represented his home town at a big SXSW event last March. He’s quite young but he’s been touring since age 16, so he’s got a lot of miles on him already. He says he moved from Brooklyn to the West to be near deserts and to be able to get off the grid easily. He must like dirt.

Craig H. 

[carryonmywaywardsong-blog]

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My friend, Kai, wrote this song after a break up and it is amazingly sad and amazingly beautiful and it would seriously be a shame if you don't listen to it.

[abigailwashburn]

January Letter 2014

The Wu-Force is happening NOW! Premiere NASHVILLE show tonight (January 9th)  this Thursday (January 9th) night at the High Watt! 

What is the Wu-Force? Click HERE to see our video trailer asking exactly that...  But this trailer is just a tease for a full-length video coming soon! 

Wu Fei flew in from Beijing late last week with her little girl Viola, and Kai makes the trek from East Nashville to the south side for rehearsals everyday.  My living room has been taken over by a guzheng, keys, guitars, banjos, trumpet and baby toys everywhere! Check out a video of our intense rehearsals here. 

The Wu-Force will perform at globalFEST Jan 12 in NYC. Then we will come back to Nashville and get hard at work writing new material and recording and we will have a 2nd Nashville show, February 3rd at the Basement, to show it off! Please come support both shows and see all the new Wu-Force forces at work! Looking forward to having good friend James Wallace and the Naked Light share the night with us at the High Watt.  El El will share the stage with us at the Basement. 

In addition to the Wu-Force performance at Globalfest this weekend I'm honored be a part of a special plenary session at the American Performing Arts Presenters Conference in NYC alongside the artistic awesomeness of Taylor Mac & Baratunde. 

Taylor Mac 

Baratunde

This holiday was special for a lot of reasons, mostly because it was Juno's first, but ALSO because of all the amazing holiday cards I got from all over the world in response to the momma-baby-santa card we sent out to all the folks who signed up on Facebook. Look out for this again next year. It just made me feel too good not to do it again. And BIG gratitude to Carissa Stolting, my management partner, aka Greez, and SueAnn Shiah for the wonderful idea and for making it happen… over 1000 cards went out!

Click HERE to see pics of the holiday cards. 

Right now I'm listening to little Juno squeal and play in his crib on the baby monitor, and looking out the window at the snow on the ground (yes, in Nashville, believe it or not!) and watching the bright red cardinals buzz about and fluff the snowflakes off their feathers and I'm counting my blessings for getting to share this life and music with you all. Thanks for making it possible!

web!  www.abigailwashburn.com

tour info!  www.bit.ly/AbigailShows

[indiestreet]

Abigail Washburn: Tour Dates including March 6 @ Ryman w/ Mumford & Sons, March 13 in LA

March 6 – Nashville, TN / Ryman Auditorium w/ Mumford & Sons

March 7 – 26 / Australia

March 31 – Los Angeles, CA / The Getty

April 1 – Portland, OR / Mississippi Studios

April 3 – Seattle, WA / Tractor Tavern

April 5 – Savannah, GA / Savannah Music Festival

April 6 – Athens, GA / The Melting Point

April 7 – Nashville, TN / 3rd & Lindsley

April 11 – Lexington, KY / Natasha’s Bistro

April 12 – St. Louis, MO / Sheldon Arts Foundation

April 13 – Carmel, IN / The Studio Theater

April 14 – Chicago, IL / Old Town School of Folk Music

April 17 – Huntsville, AL / Merrimack Hall