Be Blogged

She Love the Acoustics in our Stairway

She loves the acoustics in our stairway. And every time she visits, she sings, I mean really sings for us. I love the beauty it adds to our home and the energy that is left after they are gone. 

I had the pleasure of photographing a bunch this weekend - including some stuff for pure pleasure. This was one of those moments. Arin improving. Her voice and sweetness filling our home with all those amazing things you could never buy in a store. 

I feel blessed today. Blessed to have a home for friends to sing in. Blessed to have a partner with which to share it and blessed to have the talent to capture the moment and share it with you. 

Enjoy your Sunday.

 

Kathleen Coffee

Last night I stopped into the Children's Home Society Coffee House that featured Athens, West Virginia musician Kathleen Coffee. Steve Tuck brought her to town and I happen to have the good luck of being on his email list. When he sent out an invite and description of her that included the magic words "Ani Difranco" my interest was peaked.  I checked out Kathleen's myspace page on Friday afternoon and decided that seeing her was a priority!

The Coffee House Atmosphere was great, it was a very intimate setting and I had the best seat in the house - the very comfy couch. I saw some old friends and a long lost family member (I love you sweetie!) and had a great cup of coffee. My friend Jennifer immediately commented that she reminded her of a young Dar Williams. I had to agree - her stage presence and sense of humor were definitely reminiscent of Dar.

She played some great tunes - I particularly liked Paint From the Brain & Harboring. Kat explained that her songs are often inspired by one word for example, Tragedy.

Kat has a self titled album coming out on May 23rd and is having a CD release party in Princeton, WV at the Room Upstairs. Her album was recorded live at the Riff Raff and according to Kat she is committed to keeping that "back porch" sound and not being overly engineered.

As I was watching her I couldn't help but think that I was being let in on a secret - that I was lucky to get to see her in such an intimate setting and that there may be a time when she is playing much larger venues, yep ladies and gentlemen, she's a keeper. I suspect that time will only enhance Miss Kat's young voice and song writing - she is staying on my radar. I'm definitely going to grab a copy of her upcoming CD.

I didn't bring my camera - only my cell phone & used it to take notes and snap a quick shot - the lighting was non-existent so I opted to work with it . Thanks Steve for bringing more amazing music to Parkersburg (and a belated thank you for Anais Mitchell) !

Rocking At The Blenny

Last night I made my way over to my favorite live music venue in Parkersburg, the Blennerhassett Hotel, for Todd Burge’s release of his new CD, My Lost And Found. You have to check this album out! It was recorded in Nashville at The Butcher Shoppe & produced by the legendary Tim O’Brien. Tim also lends his vocals, and finger pickin’ & peckin’ all over the album. Other musicians lending their amazing talents & flavor are Dirk Powell, Dennis Crouch, Kenny Malone & Dan Dugmore. Quite a line-up!

I listen to a lot of independent musicians and the quality of the album from start to finish is astounding. I have a hard time saying which track is my favorite – after listening to it for just a couple hours one of my standouts is I Believe This, I Believe. Eloise is haunting & sad and also a favorite. I think this album will become my morning wake-up & coffee serenade for a while.

I have been a fan of Todd’s since my days as the worst cocktail waitress ever at the Brassworks. Back then he was playing with 63 Eyes, the Mean Red Spiders, and Triple Shot in addition to his solo work. The days of “Draft Beer for Ten Dimes” & “Pickin The Lock” and Mind Erasers set up by Angie. And Elvis fire drills. I think I should leave it at that.

Despite the impending winter weather there was a great turnout and several West Virginia music legends in the crowd, and if you know how Todd is, you know he can’t resist the temptation to showcase other musicians.

We learned from John Lilly that a little yodel goes a long way. You should check this guy out he was the 2005 winner of the Ghost Writers in the Sky songwriting contest sponsored by Hankfest.  What a treat.

Ron Sowell took the stage next and treated us to a dance lesson. Ron is the musical director for the Moutain Stage band and a well known kids song writer. He was delightful!

Next up was Mayor Moon Mullins, singing about Hippy Chicks, I don’t know how it’s happened with all my years on the Mid-Ohio Valley Music Scene, but I think this was my first time seeing Moon perform. He was very entertaining and was totally rockin’ the blues look with his sunglasses.

Also in the audience were Jimmy Clinton of Mean Red Spiders Fame. Becky Bolte, with the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame, Abby Hayhurst of the Parkersburg Art Center and a special guest appearance by Marlon.

Todd took the stage and rocked it out with some tunes from the new CD. I have to say I loved listening to Billy Matheny pickin’ & doing backup vocals for Todd. It took me right back to the days of Jimmy & Todd at Bogart’s. Todd then treated us to several tracks including,  My Lost And Found, Baby Ray and then closed with one of my favorites, from Hip About Time, The Good Dog.

I blog about this for two reasons - One - I had the pleasure & honor of photographing Todd for the CD cover. Any of you that have ever worked with Todd know that he is such a professional to deal with. Two - because Todd has been a huge inspiration to me over the years. It’s hard following a creative path sometimes and we all need people that inspire us & tell us by example that it will be OK. Todd is one of those people for me. I love the way he is never afraid to share information and ideas and promote music in general. He is one of the hardest working people I know and I just wanted to say thanks from the bottom of my heart for reminding me that it’s always more rewarding to follow the passion than the money.