Coming up from Steve Earle...

I have just found out that Steve Earle's eagerly-awaited next album, coming out in May, is called "Townes". And yes, it's covers of his favorite songs written and performed by his close friend, the late, great Townes Van Zandt.

I already can't wait for the 15 tracks to be released!

Janet

John Martyn

For my first post in a long time, I'm going to lazily link to a post I've just made on my main blog, Lord Celery. It has to do with the death on the 29th of John Martyn, a long-time favorite of mine.

RIP.

Janet

I'm Listening To: "That Lucky Old Sun"

Occasionally I post something about what I'm listening to over on Lord Celery, my main blog. That's what has happened today. So if you'd like, you can go read about "That Lucky Old Sun" here!

Janet

I'm Listening To: This Is ReDeYe

I'm really overdue writing about this CD. Guillaume, I'm very sorry about that.

"This Is ReDeYe" is the first all-English CD released by French musician Guillaume Fresneau. Up until now, I've only known him musically through the group Dahlia. (Sorry - that link to the Dahlia information is to a French website.)

But I'm very lucky to have had Fresneau, his parents, and his siblings as long-time friends, although I haven't seen Guillaume in a very long time. He was a very interesting boy and young man, and I have no doubt that he's a terrific adult, too.

But I didn't realize, when he was a kid, that he was such a talented musician. He certainly is!

"This Is ReDeYe" is a fascinating CD. I feel influences of a number of famous singer-songwriters - like Townes Van Zandt, as a primary example. I wonder if Fresneau's time in Texas is responsible for some of this sound?

To me, this is a very intimate album. The songs have intriguing lyrics. The presentation is very simple - in some cases, it's only Fresneau's voice and his guitar. A few of the tracks seem incomplete, almost like unresolved feelings. Fresneau's songwriting really shines through, without any sense of the heavy-handed production which plagues many current artists.

This CD really gets to me. It gets to my heart and soul.

Thanks so much for sharing so much with us, Guillaume! I eagerly await what you're going to do next.

Janet

Trevor Nelson on BBC Radio 2

My last post here was about British soul singer Anthoney Wright. Well, through one of his fan sites, I found out that Wright would be performing live this week on the Wednesday night R&B/soul programme hosted by Trevor Nelson on BBC Radio 2. It's not a programme I had ever listened to before.

Now since I'm not much of a night owl during the working week (I get up at 5:30am Monday through Friday - yawn - in order to beat the traffic into Oxford), I decided to use my DAB radio and digitally record the programme rather than listen live. That way, I can also listen as many times as I'd like on my iPod (once I've converted the file format, that is).

What an interesting radio show - one that I'll be recording every week from now on!

Anthoney Wright, along with an excellent backing band and singers, performed two songs live. One was the track that I've been hearing regularly on the radio - "Reset to Zero". The other was called "No Me Without You". What can I say about the performances? Well, now I'm especially looking forward to the release of Wright's first album (hopefully later this year)! The guy has one of the finest soul voices I've heard in a long time. Really.

My only regret about Wright's performance on Radio 2 this week was that Trevor Nelson didn't interview him. Oh well - can't have everything, I guess!

Here's a shot that I grabbed from Radio 2's site. Let's hope that the Beeb won't be too offended that I am using a photo of Anthoney Wright, from Wednesday night, from their site. I'm only borrowing it!





But through that same radio show, I also have discovered an artist about whom I know little. Nelson played a cover version of Miles Davis' famous song "So What" by an artist called Ronny Jordan. I believe it's from 1992. It was just fantastic, and I've already wish-listed the CD containing it on Amazon. Nelson commented that many purist fans of Davis think this version is a sacrilege. I certainly didn't. It was remarkable. I know almost nothing about Jordan, so I guess more research is due.

So a big "thank you" to Trevor Nelson on two counts this week. And as I said, I'll definitely be listening again.

Janet

Learning About - Anthoney Wright

Have any of you heard of UK singer Anthoney Wright?

No - that's not a typo. He spells his first name with an "e". And man, can he sing!

So far, all I've heard is one single - "Reset to Zero". And besides his MySpace page (linked above), I know very little besides what I've learned from this small piece from The Guardian.

I can't wait to hear more, though. This is one of the best soul voices I've heard in a long time!

Janet

Elbow win the 2008 Mercury Prize!

I am just delighted this morning to hear that Elbow have won the prestegious Mercury Prize this year for their terrific CD "The Seldom Seen Kid", released earlier this year. It certainly is in my list of favorites CDs of the year so far.

You can read more about last night's awards via the BBC's site.

I had never heard of Elbow before this CD. They are not newcomers to the music scene, but they aren't that well known to most Americans. Now, I want to explore more. I guess it's time to zip over to Amazon and see what's available in their back catalog!

Janet