Charlie Parr

Posted on May 18, 2013 by Greg Harness

Charlie Parr - Barnswallow - Interview prior the Hermit Music Festival
Charlie Parr
Charlie Parr will be performing at the Hermit Music Festival on Friday, July 26th, 2013, and I got a chance to interview him. We talked about how he learned to play guitar, what draws him to gospel music, and his approach to songwriting.

“I wanted to write stories,” Parr told me. “I wanted to write like Raymond Carver, stories that were startling and real.” He says most of his songs start with foggy ideas, and over the years he has learned to pay attention to those ideas. “I kinda know when I should pay attention.” Once the idea hits he starts fitting it into song form – verses, choruses, bridges. “But then I think about a song like ‘Pretty Polly’ which has no chorus. Dock Boggs isn’t gonna give anybody a break.”

Read my interview with Charlie Parr on the Hermit Music Festival website.
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Here’s Charlie Parr singing “Badger” from Barnswallow.

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Hermit Music Festival

Posted on April 15, 2013 by Greg Harness

Hermit Music Festival
Hermit Music Festival
Indian Creek Winery, Kuna Idaho
July 26th & 27th, 2013
I heard about the inaugural Hermit Music Festival a couple of months ago. I immediately volunteered to help out in any way I could. I can’t tell you how pleased I am to be involved with this organization. This will be a special event for the community.

The festival is primarily an acoustic music festival featuring blues, country, bluegrass, old time, and singer-songwriter styles. Regular Ramblers’ Retreat listeners are going to enjoy this thoroughly. Expect to hear more and more Hermit music on Ramblers’ Retreat as the festival draws closer.

Wayne Hancock and Charlie Parr headline a group of talented international, regional, and local musicians. We plan to present five bands on Friday and nine more on Saturday. Tickets will $60 or less. We have early bird pricing, discounts for seniors and students, and kids 12 and under are free. This is definitely a family-friendly event.

The festival will be held at the Indian Creek Winery near Kuna, Idaho on the last weekend of July, 2013. Besides music, the festival will feature local artisans, craft wine and beer, food trucks, participant dance, and kids activities. Saturday’s festivities will kick off with an old fashioned ice cream social.

Information about the schedule, ticket prices, and more will be available soon. Plan now to attend this extraordinary community event.

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Vishtèn

Posted on April 13, 2013 by Greg Harness

Québécois Folk Music from Canada - Vishtèn - Mosaïk
Vishtèn: Mōsaïk (2012)
It starts with bodhrán and jaw harp and a low-note drone that is felt more than heard. More layers are added with chanting, harmonies, plucked violin, and accordion. So begins the traditional Cajun song “Tobie LaPierre” which serves as a great introduction to the Canadian folk music trio Vishtèn and their newest recording, Mōsaïk. You can read my full review of Mōsaïk in RootsWorld magazine.

I know music helps me understand the place in which it was created. The converse is also true; knowing about the place helps me understand the music better. So this is the point where I disclose to you, dear reader, that until this record encouraged me to do the research, I could not find Prince Edward Island on a map, nor did I understand how big the province of Quebec is. It hadn’t crossed my mind that Quebec is more than twice the size of Texas, more than three times the size of California, more than seven times the size of Idaho, my home state. About half of Quebec’s population lives near the capital city, Montreal, which leaves a lot of open space in the rest of the province.

In the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, there are a number of islands that belong to Quebec, some of which are near to Prince Edward Island. This is the part of Canada that Vishtèn comes from. The sisters Emmanuelle LeBlanc and Pastelle LeBlanc are from Evangeline on Prince Edward Island, and Pascal Miousse is a native of Quebec’s Magdalen Islands.

This is from Vishtèn’s website:

In addition to being connected today by a ferryboat, both Islands have a shared history and cultural tie that dates back several centuries. This cultural tie tells a story of early French Acadian settlers seeking a better life in the new world. In their quest to survive, many of these settlers eventually became fishermen and carried with them their musical traditions as a means of celebrating their survival. There still exists today a small enclave in Prince Edward Island where the French culture is predominant while the Magdalen Islands still remains primarily French.

Below are a couple of videos from Vishtèn playing “Tobie Lapierre” and “La Fougue Des Fées.” I’ve played these songs and more tracks from this record on my radio show, Ramblers’ Retreat.

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Bob Nolan

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Greg Harness

Bob Nolan Songs - Vince Crofts & Mindi Reid - Longing For The Range
Bob Nolan’s Birthday
Bob Nolan was born on April 13th, 1908. One of the three original members of The Sons Of The Pioneers, he wrote many of the songs The Sons made famous, and that we still hear often today. Today’s episode of Ramblers’ Retreat featured many Bob Nolan classics. I also found a few songs that were new to me, like “Song Of The Bandit” performed by Idaho’s own Vince Crofts & Mindi Reid. As always, the full playlist is posted.

Here’s a fun video of Roy Rogers singing Nolan’s “Skyball Paint” on The Muppet Show.

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April Fools

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Greg Harness

Folk Music for April Fools - a.k.a. Belle - Disappearing Night
April Fools’ Day
This past Monday was April Fools’ Day, and I found folk music about April and more folk music about fools to play on this week’s episode of Ramblers’ Retreat.

I didn’t do an April Fools’ show last year, and I had fun digging through my library to see what kinds of songs I could find. I was happy with how it came out. Along with the April and fools music, there were plenty of songs from Scandinavia, the American West, the Pacific Northwest, and from right here in Idaho. As always, the full playlist is posted.

I was pleased to find this gem from Boise’s own a.k.a. Belle, “For A Fool.” I was even more pleased to find this accompanying video by Boise artist Shasta Nash.

As I thought about this theme, the first song that came to mind was “The Yodeling Fool” by Wylie Gustafson. Here’s an extended video filmed at Seattle’s Tractor Tavern a few years ago where Wylie talks about his big hit, a three-note yodel for Yahoo!

And finally, here’s a song I didn’t play on the show, but when a friend pointed me toward this video I had to share it. This is a folk song Arlo Guthrie learned from Elvis Presley that begins with the line, “Wise men say only fools rush in.” The entire video is worth watching to hear Arlo tell a story about Pete Seeger and to watch Pete’s reaction.

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Bob Wills & The Texas Playboys

Posted on March 28, 2013 by Greg Harness

Folk Music to Celebrate the Birthday of Bob Wills - Hot Club of Cowtown - What Makes Bob Holler
Bob Wills & The Texas Playboys
A Playlist for Bob Wills’s Birthday
Bob Wills was born on March 6th, 1905, and I found plenty of folk music to celebrate his birthday on this week’s episode of Ramblers’ Retreat.

I put together a show for Bob Wills last year too, and I expect this will continue to be an annual event. The year before, when I didn’t yet have a radio show, I wrote a brief blog post about Bob Wills which tells a bit about how I came to know and love his music.

This year’s show was in many ways an extension of last year’s, with a lot more Bob Wills tunes this year and a lot more Western swing. I played music from Bob Wills himself, along with plenty of songs he wrote and recorded. As always, the full playlist is posted.

Here’s a video of The Hot Club Of Cowtown playing “I Can’t Go On This Way.”

“I Can’t Go On This Way” was written by Fred Rose, and Bob Wills recorded the song in 1946. On the show I played a version of this song recorded in 1973 at the final recording session of Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys. The Hot Club Of Cowtown was represented on the show by their recording what is probably the most famous composition by Bob Wills, “Faded Love.”

There have been many great versions of the Bob Wills composition “San Antonio Rose” recorded over the years. On the show I went with the instrumental version by the Bill Ganz Western Band. Below is a fun video of Bob Wills with a singalong version.

In 1943 Bob Wills recorded “Home In San Antone,” another song written by Fred Rose. On the show I played the version recorded by Willie Nelson. Here’s another great version featuring Redd Volkaert and the incredible Cindy Cashdollar.

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