Songwriter Linda McRae Smooths Life's Roughest Edges with Song

Less than a verse into the first song Canadian-born, Nashville-based Linda McRae played at her 2014 FAR-West Showcase performance, my husband and I turned to each other and said 'oh yeah.' Playing a banjo and singing in a strong alto, McRae went on to offer a masterful and stirring set of songs. Songs with a capital S that took one on a sonic journey while steadily cracking open your heart. One, "Rough Edges & Ragged Hearts," the title track to her 2012 Cd, contained one of the best lines I've heard: "living is a dying art." Another song was based on the words of a Folsom Prison inmate she'd met through her involvement in the Arts and Corrections Program at California’s New Folsom Prison. By the end of her set, tears were streaming from our eyes.

As became evident upon further inquiry, McRae wasn't just a stellar artist, she was also a stellar person, both continually creating and giving back. McRae went solo in 1996, after a decade spent with the popular Canadian folk band, Spirit of the West, and has since released five CDs of her own work. Routinely charting in the top-10, performing in festivals throughout North America, she's collaborated, recorded and performed alongside a whose who of roots-based artists including Gurf Morlix, Neko Case and Bruce Cockburn. And the alliance with New Folsom led she and her husband, James Whitmire to start Express Yourself Writing Workshops for other disenfranchised communities in 2011, adding to an already full touring and recording schedule while further fueling her creativity.

Amid a month-long Escape to Create! residency in Florida that she was deservedly rewarded, McRae answered my questions about her work as an artist and teacher and all she'll be up to in 2015.

Q: Tell us about your upcoming year: Are you playing anywhere new? Any key dates or projects you're especially excited about

LM: 2015 is shaping up to be an incredibly exciting year. I’ll be touring all over North America in support of my new recording being released September 15th on my new label Borealis Records. I’m really excited to be working with Borealis. They have been incredibly supportive, and their promotional team was instrumental in my career retrospective, Fifty Shades of Red, hitting some “best of” lists for 2014. It was also # 5 Top Canadian Album on the Folk DJ Charts.

The label is currently working directly with my manager/agent/collaborator and husband (not necessarily in that order) James Whitmire on an October/November North American CD Release tour in support of the new recording. Those dates will be announced in the coming months. I also have a number of festivals I will be performing at this year including Artswells in BC where I will also be teaching a week-long songwriting course. Other festivals include South Country Fair in Alberta where I was made the honorary mayor last year, and a new festival in Ontario called the Kingsville Folk Music Festival. I’ve also just been asked to perform for the first time at Winterfolk in Toronto this Feb. 13-15/2015.

Q: Is this a first-time residency for you at Escape 2 Create? Do you have a 'typical'  writing process? Will you be writing material for the new recording on retreat? 
LM: The bulk of the material has already been written but there will definitely be some additions as a result of my Escape 2 Create residency. I guess my typical writing process usually involves juggling half a dozen things at the same time, i.e. touring, daily household activities, social networking, publicizing my performances, etc. which in itself is a full-time job. It is an incredible luxury for me to have an entire month in which to write new material and I am relishing every second of my time here. 
Escape 2 Create choses twelve interdisciplinary artists though a rigorous juried application process each year, six in January and six in February. Each artist’s private residence is donated by local Seaside, FL, community members and is tailored to each artist’s requirements. This is my first residency and having been chosen to participate has given me a sense of validation. I am also enjoying the fellowship and inspiration I am receiving from my fellow artists and the residents of Seaside. I have already finished four songs in the week I have been here.

Q: How do you know when you're ready to go back into the studio? You've worked with a lot of great producers: whose on deck for this next project? Any new sounds you'll be exploring or would like to? 
LM: I guess I know when I’m ready to go back into the studio when I have at least 15 songs that I feel are really strong. I usually like to record 12-15 and then put 10 or so on the finished release. I feel I have grown as a performing songwriter and each recording I think has illustrated that. Having the added perspective of collaborating with my husband and other co-writers has definitely helped me grow as a songwriter as well. Recording starts right after I finish my residency here. The timing couldn’t be more perfect as I will have plenty of time here to get to know the songs inside and out. I like to have them in my head and under my fingers before I record them. 
I have been fortunate when it comes to working with producers and great musicians. I’ve had wonderful experiences recording with each producer I have worked with, Colin Linden, Gurf Morlix and Marc L’Esperance. Each of them brought something new to the table and I am confident this one will continue in that same vein. 
This time, I’ve decided to work with my old friend, and award-winning producer and guitarist, Steve Dawson. I am really excited to be working with Steve on this project. We started pre-production before I left for my residency and he had some terrific arrangement ideas. We also did some co-writing together, and it just so happens one or two of those co-writes will be on the new CD. 
I’ve become really interested in acoustic blues styles and as he is well-acquainted with the idiom he’s a natural choice. I’m hoping to achieve a raw sound on this recording with real deep grooves you can drive a truck through. For me, it’s all about the groove. If the groove isn’t there you have nothing to build on. Start from the bottom up and away you go. I like to keep things pretty spare as well without a lot of unnecessary frills to clog things up. He’s a master and I know it’s going to be great. 

Q: You're a songwriter and writing facilitator/teacher. Can you discuss how you started Express Yourself Writing Workshops and how teaching/facilitating informs your own work?
LM: The idea for our writing workshop came from our involvement in the Arts and Corrections Program at California’s New Folsom Prison. My husband James and I were there for the first time in the fall of 2011, and we were so moved by the response to our visit that we decided to carry it through further with a focus on disenfranchised members of the communities I perform in. It has turned out to be a life-changing experience. In the past three years since our first visit to Folsom we have worked with approximately 1000 individuals in at-risk youth community facilities and correctional facilities. We have also worked with people in detox centers, veteran’s hospitals, and various adult correctional facilities with both male and female inmates. Our experiences talking and working with everyone involved has definitely had an influence on my writing. My new CD will include songs written as a direct result of some of these experiences, including a song I wrote with a New Folsom inmate who is serving life without parole. His name is Ken Blackburn and he is 73 years old. I think it is one of the best songs I have ever had the opportunity to be part of. Ken wrote the lyric and I wrote the music.

Q:What can listeners and fans expect after March 2015?
LM: I guess the biggest thing is my new CD coming out. I’ll also be doing some shows with two other wonderful artists in the DC area in May Mary Battiata (Little Pink is her band name) and Karen Collins. Mary and I were at a music camp this summer at the Augusta Heritage society and Karen was one of the instructors there. The name says it all: "Women on the Verge! A Night of Traditional and Alt Country."
You can find all my tour dates, music, epk and workshop information at http://lindamcrae.com

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=19A0f_69bzI

https://soundcloud.com/linda-mcrae/sets/rough-edges-and-ragged-hearts

Artist Interview: Annette Conlon Reclaims Her Voice on 'Life, Death and the Spaces Between'

I've known songwriter Annette Conlon for nearly as long as I've been recording music. The Los Angeles based artist has long been an avid support of other artists as the host of 'Nette Radio, 'one of the longest running radio shows dedicated to promoting women in music.'  She's also hosted many a songwriter showcase over the years and collaborated with her husband in duo The Conlons. But after a harrowing few years of health challenges, Annette is putting her own voice front and center, embarking on a solo project inspired by the events she's weathered, "Life, Death and The Spaces Between." Amidst a crowdfunding campaign to support the project and some unexpected family events, Annette discussed her road to healing and writing her most inspired material.

Q: You've been so active in music, I didn't realize you hadn't recorded your own solo work. How did you know it was time?

Annette Conlon: I fell and hit my head on a trashcan on April 17, 2014. I suffered a pretty severe concussion and during my recovery I started writing. I had written an entire album’s worth of songs between April 17th and Sept 5^th; but really by mid-June I knew I wanted to record the songs I has written thus far. These songs felt special to me, and to Doug, and seemed to really connect with people when we played them live.  I told Doug I wanted to record right around my birthday in June. It wasn’t until we were in the studio and recording that we realized this was really my baby. Even though I had written everything, we went in with the intention of recording a “The Conlons” record; however, we realized that wasn’t what it was. Doug is fully supportive of my first full-length solo record, has generously played on it, and is currently working on his third solo record.  

Q: Backing up to 2012? Can you brief us on what happened? What was vocal therapy like — was it regaining or learning a whole knew toolkit? I gather you focused on physical recovery first and then the emotional work didn't kick in until the concussion....

AC: I had a retropharyngeal abscess resultant from bacteria that was residing on some cervical fusion hardware put in back in 2003. I had three surgeries through my esophagus: two due to the abscess and one to repair a hole in my esophagus. During the second surgery my right vocal laryngeal nerve was damaged and the result was the right cord became paralyzed. My surgeon, who is a top ENT surgeon, used Radiesse for Voice, and injected that through my neck into the right vocal cord, having me sing while injecting the gel to move the right cord back into the middle. Now my left vocal cord basically does all of the work and my right cord just kind of sits there, in one place. I had swallow therapy to learn how to swallow again as my swallowing muscles were damaged. I also went to speech therapy/vocal therapy sessions at the hospital to learn how to speak correctly again. (I basically went until my benefits ran out). I did all of the homework for swallow and speech/vocal exercises, and once I was given permission to do so, I began one-on-one vocal coaching with the amazing Jan Linder-Koda via Skype. I also used her vocal warm-ups on my own time.  I kept old mp3s of when I was first talking and trying to sing. It’s amazing to me how far I’ve come. I don’t have as big of a voice as I had before I got sick. That power is gone. I have to remember not to push too hard or I will lose my voice. I get vocal fatigue easier – and I have noticed that if my neck muscles are tired my voice will change. All of those surgeries have affected me and I have had to learn to work with it and not fight it. That’s okay, it’s really a small price to pay to still be able to do something I love so much. Not only did I survive all of that, but I’m singing? I’m pretty lucky! I’m so happy when I sing, and I’m so thrilled to say I’m making a record without auto-tune. It’s authentically me. This new voice is purely me and I really like it.

I think the reason I didn’t focus on the emotional healing was that my “job” was to get well. Some days I had 2-3 doctors’ appointments. Some weeks I went to the doctor 3-4 days of the week. Recovering from 3 major surgeries, the feeding tubes, the PICC line, all of the drains, etc, required so many visits, physical therapy, etc., that it was all I really did for a while. Not to mention the very real fear for the first year that the infection could resurface. I think emotionally I didn’t feel well for a long time. Physically, I was still not super strong even at a year and a half. When I had that concussion in April I was still not as strong as I am now. My legs collapsed as I stepped off the curb and down I went.

In August 2014 I celebrated my two-year anniversary of the first surgery. It really wasn’t all that long ago. It is remarkable to me know to look back and see how far I have come.

Q: How was writing a part of your emotional recovery? All these songs were written in this period. How are they different than your previous work? What do you hope listeners will take away from the work?

AC: Writing these songs was cathartic. I confronted, relived, and experienced… however you want to say it, thoughts and feelings that were veiled in my subconscious because I had focused all of my energy ‘getting well’. Once I had quiet time to just sit, without any outside input, my mind opened up, and I started listening. It was amazing to me to experience this as an artist/writer. I’ve always been a writer, but sometimes you try to force things. You tell yourself “I must write this song or finish this short story.” Instead, I merely listened and wrote. The words and the music came not independent from each other but almost in concert. I had to learn how to listen and convey this from inside my head to pen, paper and guitar. I’m still listening and writing, and I’m grateful that I’m able to stay connected to this inner voice.

In the past I didn’t have an inner voice, or muse, specifically guiding me as I do now. When I would have an idea of a poem, I would write it down, and then struggle with cords to come up with a song. If a melody came first I would sing it into a voice recorder or my phone, and struggle to convert it into cords. Sometimes weeks went by before I found words that made sense to that melody. Those struggles seem to be gone for now and I’m grateful. 

I definitely want the listener to take away that this is a collected body of work. There can be hope after sorrow; there is joy in overcoming struggle. While each song stands alone, I think together they tell a story. We are frail beings, we are strong, and we can take and make beautiful music out of really awful circumstances, which in and of itself is very healing.

  
Q: Tell us about your plans for the record and going forward? Are you fully recovered from the events of the past few years? Will you be touring?

AC: I plan to release the record on April 17, 2015. That is the one-year anniversary of the concussion, and it seems like the perfect day for THIS record to be released! I really hope we make the Kickstarter goal.... I am so grateful to everyone who has supported me and donated thus far. We were doing really well at first and had a lot of momentum but my Uncle died on Nov 1 and I flew to Alabama to be with my family for the funeral. From Alabama, I flew to Colorado with my parents to attend the funeral of my mom’s best friend’s on Monday of this week. I’ve known this sweet lady since I was in kindergarten. Her daughter and I were in church choir together all through junior high and high school. It’s been a long week of funerals and sadness. [And] I am still in Colorado due to the Arctic Front that moved in. I hope to be able to return to Los Angeles on Friday. ... I am focusing my thoughts on the positive energy of all the support I have received thus far and praying that it works out as it should. I wouldn’t change a thing, because I put my family first, but the timing was rotten. That’s sometimes how life works out. I do hope your readers will check out the Kickstarter and find a reward they like!  There are some really great things there! 

Once the record IS finished and released I will reach out to the Internet radio shows I’ve connected with throughout the years through my time doing NetteRadio. I want to take it as far as I possibly can and I think this is a good first step.

Am I recovered? I think I’m as recovered as I’ll ever be although I can always get stronger, or in better shape, and I work towards that every day. I’ll never be like I was before I got sick. When they told me that at the hospital it made me so mad. I don’t ever want someone else to define me. I understand now what they were trying to say, to caution me and keep me from being disappointed.  This isn’t something I dwell on. I’m certainly much stronger now than I was in April and I hope that I’ll be stronger next April than I am right now.

I would definitely consider touring to support the record. I might do several smaller tours instead of one big tour. That seems like a good way to stay healthy, happy and strong.

 http://www.annetteconlon.com/

Artist Interview: Trouble No More for Corinne West

After more than a decade of touring the globe, California songwriter Corinne West put her guitar down, moved to Austria, and spent more than a year working on visual art. Instead of taking her away from music, the break served to bring her deeper into the creative territory she's mined on four well-received collections of original music. In 2013, she returned to the Bay Area, making a seemingly effortless transition back to where she left off: forming new collaborations with top players, showcasing at the recent FAR-West Conference, and writing a new batch of songs for what will be her fifth recording, TROUBLE NO MORE. Amidst a crowd-funding campaign to support the new work, Corinne discussed her time away from, and joyful return to, a life immersed in making music. 

Q:  After a long run of touring and living abroad, you're back living and creating in the Bay Area. How is it to be back and how is it shaping your current work?

CW: I am quite happy to be back in California, (although I do miss Austria.) My current body of songs have been deeply influenced by the year I spent in the Alpine mountains, and my experiences leading up to that time. Returning to America provided distance and space to reflect on what it meant in my life to be away from home, and what it means to have a true home away from home… which lead to the fertile ground of contemplating the meaning of home in the first place. 

Q: Tell me about your break? Did you plan it consciously or did it just evolve?

CW: In 2011, after 10 years of full-time touring, and on the back-end of a two-year duo project, I took a sabbatical from music completely and lived in a village in the Alpine mountains in Austria for 13 months. I had been moving at such a fast clip that I began to lack a connection to what I was doing and saying and feeling during performances. All the pieces were moving, yet somehow on a soul level, I wasn’t there. It was time to recalibrate and figure out what held meaning for me, and the only way to really address this was to flip the switch, and pull the entire plug out of the wall. When I stepped away from my identity as a musician it got very very quiet. In the middle of that silence I had the powerful and often difficult experience of looking myself in the eye and asking myself what it means to me to create for a living, why am I doing this - and what am I doing. 

Q: You practice multiple art forms (visual media, etc). Is there a typical rhythm to your days creating? 

CW: I am finally at a place in my life where the mediums I work in are all informing one another. If I am working on mono prints, I am infusing the work with the music I am listening to or writing. In making the new record TROUBLE NO MORE, I will be creating the artwork for the CD lending a visual reference for some of the sonic landscapes in the music. It’s all one energy with different outlets or manifestations. So to answer your question, every day holds one facet or another of creation, and the rhythm of the day is a blend of letting it unfold, and keeping in time with the tasks at hand. 

Q How was writing this collection different (or similar) to your past projects? Do you have an idea of what the songs will be about/what rhythms, etc, when you start or are you a fairly organic writer? Why did you choose Redwood Canyon to write this collection?

CW TROUBLE NO MORE has her own character for certain. Some of her songs were written in 2011 as co-writes. Then there was a huge sabbatical from music and a 13-month life in a foreign land. Then a return to music, and a return to songs that have been existing in limbo for a year. In addition, there are pieces that were written very recently, so there is an arc to the record, of time, and change. I would say this is the most intimate and directly autobiographical record I will have offered. At the same time there is a mythic cycle underneath the pieces —  the vulnerability of unity, the pain of leaving familiar ground and love, the loneliness of a desolate heart, and the diamonds gathered (for the sharing) for taking a journey into the unknown. Universal principals through one person’s experiences. It’s everywhere… I just happen to be someone who writes and sings about it. 

The songs were written in the redwoods in Marin county. This California canyon is majestic, and has an abundant history of songwriting and music, a bit like Laurel Canyon. It just seems to be in the air — when one sits to listen and write it out. 

I would have to say, yes, I am a fairly organic writer in that I don’t have a formal process at all. Being quiet and undistracted is vital. I feel the creative process once “in” it, is quite hypnotic and trance-like. I am also a hypnotherapist, and I use self-hypnosis to inform my writing. I like to go deep inside and see what can be brought to the outside. 

Q:Tell us more about what you have planned for the recording. Are dates set, studios booked? Where do you see yourself a year from now?

CW: TROUBLE NO MORE will be recorded in Berkeley. It is my hope that the recording will be wrapped by the end of December. There are some wonderful players lined up for the tunes. This is my 5th studio record, and I have never embarked on crowd-funding, but this time, it’s needed. We have been focused on the campaign so that we can get in the studio and get these songs out into the world. 

Where do I see myself a year from now? Shoot… hopefully smiling at the day with my hands deep in the next batch of fresh music. 
For more information visit http://www.corinnewest.com/

Artist Interview: Songwriter Melissa Phillips

East Bay artist Melissa Phillips has steadily attracted new fans since leaving the songwriting gates in 2012 with the release of her debut album "Fits & Starts."  A song from the collection, "Centralia," was selected for the KFOG Local Scene 10 compilation (2013), and she  regularly appears at notable area venues with her stellar backing band The Sincerelys. After a whirlwind fall which included a performance at The Great American Hall and getting married, Phillips reflected on her songwriting process and what's currently feeding her muse.

  

Q: How did you first start singing?  Who are some of your earliest influences?
MP: I remember singing along with the radio pretty early on and being encouraged to "sing louder!" I loved picking out the harmonies. I didn't really start performing until later. Having access to music classes in school was huge for me. I had some great music teachers in junior high and high school who pushed me in a very positive way. I was in chorus, singing ensembles, I did district chorus competitions, musical theater, church choir — all of those things helped me figure out that singing was something I was good at and that I wanted to pursue it in a bigger way.
I grew up on Top 40 radio, that's the soundtrack of my childhood. If it got played on the radio between the 1970s and 1990s, I probably know the words! I loved Whitney Houston and the first tape I ever bought was "I Wanna Dance With Somebody". When I was 11 or 12 she was just it for me. But I grew up in small towns and you don't get a lot of variety on small town radio. I don't think I really had any idea what was out there until I went to college and I was exposed to what my friends were listening to. We used to sit around the dorm rooms with our CDs and a stack of cassettes and we'd make mix tapes. I still have those mixes and they have some really good music on them. It was the first time I heard Paul Simon, Crowded House, Van Morrison, [and] Indigo Girls. I really think that time spent making those tapes was more valuable than some of the music courses I took because it really helped me develop my own opinion about what I liked and ultimately, what I wanted to do.

Q How did you make your way to California from Oregon and have the different places you've lived influenced your work? 
MP: I did move to California from Oregon (I lived there for a few years in my early twenties) but I actually grew up all over the place. I had a sort of unconventional nomadic upbringing, we moved around a lot. I got to see so much of the country from the back seat of a car as a kid. I didn't start writing my own music until I was much older but I do think being able to experience that kind of a life as a young person informed how I see the world. It gave me a good awareness of how other people live, which is definitely something I find important, not just for writing, but also for being a human.

Q  Do you keep to a writing schedule or do you write as inspiration strikes? Words first or do you write to the music? 
MP: I get ideas in bits and pieces. Mostly lyrics first but sometimes they come with a melody. On any given day, my bag is full of post-it notes scribbled with lyric ideas. I carry a notebook to write stuff down and if I come up with a melody I record it into my phone. I don't have a writing schedule but I do sit down frequently with my ideas and see what I can wrestle into shape. Sometimes it comes fast and easy, but more often than not it is a slow process for me. I try not to rush, I'm not in a race. Songs will be done when they're ready. I just finished a song that I started back in 2010! I kept going back to it and I tried for a long time to force it into being done, but it wasn't ever quite right. I stepped away for a while and came back with fresh eyes and finally knew when I'd figured it out.

Q  Any current listening or reading obsessions feeding your muse? 
MP: I am in the middle of a lot of books right now, my goal is to read 38 over the next year! Here is what I currently have a bookmark in: "Where I Was From" by Joan Didion, she's a favorite, especially her non-fiction. I'm reading a book of short stories by Alice Munro, a memoir by Mary Karr, and a biography of Dorthea Lang. As for music, I have these in heavy rotation right now in my car: Rosanne Cash - The River and the Thread; John Hiatt - Dirty Jeans & Mudslide Hymns; Holly Williams - The Highway. I also really like the newest Tom Petty and Ryan Adams albums. As far as other obsessions, I am pretty addicted to Instagram. It's a nice community of supportive, creative people sharing interesting images of their daily lives — crafters, photographers, musicians, writers. Sometimes looking at beautiful stuff is what I need to simultaneously calm and stimulate my brain after a work day. Just seeing someone else do something creative can motivate me to do the same.

Q What can listeners expect in the next six months? Any big shows or new recordings?
 MP: I'm on a little hiatus from performing right now so I'm focusing on writing. I hope to go back into the studio next year with a batch of new songs. I'd also like to do some regional touring again and definitely get back on stage with the full band.

Artist Interview: Annie Bacon's Pounding Corps

When I think of artists who exemplify The Bay Area's creative culture, I think of people like Annie Bacon. Highly original, filled with integrity and continually questing, the SF-dwelling singer/songwriter/composer/bandleader and mother has several EPs and a full-length CD with annie bacon and her oshen, as well as a highly acclaimed musical suite, The Folk Opera, to her name.  She's also sung and played on a slew of other artist's recordings and projects (Corinne West, Savannah Jo Lack), and just received an Arts Incubator award from Intersection for the Arts for her next creation. I recently caught up with her as she prepared for a benefit performance she's doing for The Liberation Institute Urban Retreat Center, Sunday, October 26, in San Francisco.

Q When did you first embrace songwriting? Who was a big early influence on your becoming an artist and who or what is fueling your muse currently?

AB: Before December of 2007, I'd definitely written songs, but I never considered myself a songwriter. I was content to play other people's music. That was the month, however, when I got Garageband, which changed everything. Suddenly I could sketch out concepts of songs across multiple tracks, and it was like a floodgate had been opened. Within a few weeks I knew that this was what I was supposed to be when I grew up. Pink Floyd and whatever was playing on the soft rock station in the late 80s ... those were my early influences. Music that was emotional. Right now I'm dealing with an Alt-J infatuation, a British art-band that does everything I love: harmonies, highly literate lyrics, dirty-grimy bass drops, ear-worming melodies, and arrangements that keep you on your toes. A few songs of theirs I love: "Fitzpleasure"and "Ripe &Ruin."

Q Tell us about the new EP and the 'community effort' it's entailed? 

AB: The new EP, which I haven't yet named, is a collection of ukulele songs that I've written across five or six years, but which never quite fit on any other release.  2012-13 were hard years for me and my family. Without going into it, I'll say that I was creatively paralyzed coming out of it and having trouble getting re-started. A kind friend set me in motion with a gentle nudge, another friend stepped forward to engineer it, and others threw down their massive talent as the OSHEN. And still other friends have offered ears, insights, and hours of talking them through. It's one of those projects that has happened for me, not because of me, which is a sweet and humbling relief. I feel really blessed by my community.

Q You just were just awarded an Arts Incubator by Intersection for the Arts. What does that mean for your work and will you build upon The Folk Opera or drum up something else altogether?

AB: Yes! This is really exciting for me. There's another project altogether that inspired me reaching out to them for support. It's a project that needs to happen within a certain framework, and to be honest I don't even know what exactly it is going to be yet, only that I'm supposed to set out to do it. I'm being necessarily vague, you'll forgive that I hope. But I do also see the potential for the IFTA sponsorship as a platform for finding the Folk Opera's next life, which is on stage. Maybe I'll find funding to get the incredible Alphabet Arts puppet production of the piece out here from Brooklyn.

Q You're doing a benefit performance for The Liberation Institute. Tell us about their work in the Bay Area (and any more details about the show) and how it's important to you.

AB: The Liberation Institute is an organization dear to my heart. I sit on their Board of Directors and am consistently amazed and impressed by how much they do with so little. Their community-mental-health model means that absolutely anyone can access their services. As an artist, I know how often I and other artists need support, but feel limited by finances, so this accessibility is a key part of what I love about them.

The show is to raise funds for their services for children, teens and families. As a mama myself now, I also have deep empathy for how necessary therapy can be in the process of both being and raising a child! Holy moly. The show will be kid-friendly, with those under 12 free to enter and the show happening from 3-5p. (After nap before dinner!) It's going to be an intimate show with only about 30 tickets available for purchase. Since it's a fundraiser we're asking $25-50/ticket, fully tax-deductible since Libi is a 501(c)3 non-profit. I'll play the Folk Opera, followed by a set of ukulele songs from the EP.  

Details: Music Is Love: An afternoon with Annie Bacon, Sunday October 26th, 3pm-5pm at the Liberation Institute's Urban Retreat Center, 1227-A Folsom Street at 8th, San Francisco. $25-50 tax-deductible donation suggested, kids 12 and under are free! Tickets available via www.anniebacon.me

Artist Interview: Michele Kappel-Stone's Full Heart

Oakland musician Michele Kappel-Stone is one of those rare hybrids of cool, talented and nice. The Baltimore native is always playing somewhere and she's a seemingly tireless advocate of her fellow artists. When she's not working on her own projects, she can often be found sitting in with another band, helping book a show or organizing an event for The California Roots Union.  
I've been catching  Kappel-Stone on various stages in various guises — playing as Tippy Canoe, putting together shows at The Starry Plough — around the Bay for years, but one of my favorite of her artistic incarnations is her recent collaboration with Laura Benitez, Heartache Sisters. The duo project is a winning spin-off of Laura Benitez & The Heartache in which Kappel-Stone plays drums and sings backup. The duo's voices blend well, they can play multiple instruments, they exude fun and look great doing it. Think Shovels & Rope crossed with Loretta Lynn and you start to get an idea of what the Heartache Sisters have going on.
After meeting up for coffee in the burgeoning Grand Lake District of Oakland, which she now calls home, Kappel-Stone answered some questions about the evolution of her musical life.

Q How did you first start singing and writing songs? Who were some of your earliest influences?
MKS: My professional singing debut was dressed in a head-to-toe white leotard performing a song called “Sex In Wetsuits” for multi-media avant theater company Impossible Industrial Action’s original play “The Pleasure Raiders.” This was 1990 in Baltimore. Before that it was mostly singing into a hairbrush in my bedroom and daydreaming. I started writing songs seven years later when I was the drummer in The Kirby Grips. I was learning to play the guitar and set my sights on becoming a songwriter.
A portion of my earliest influences include the Grease Soundtrack, Patsy Cline, The Monkees, Donna Summer, Barbara Mandrell, Earth, Wind & Fire, Eurythmics, and The Pretenders. That’s a combination of my mother’s record collection and my first order from Columbia House Record Club (cost just a penny). My first instrument is drums. I have the theater company, I.I.A., to thank for this, too. They gave me a shot behind the kit when the “real drummer” suddenly quit.

Q What brought you to the Bay Area? Does the East Coast ever pull you back?
MKS The Bay Area’s arts and music scene was the initial draw. Secondly, I was deciding between New Orleans and San Francisco in the heat and humidity of Baltimore in August and my air conditioning broke. SF sounded “cool.” Lastly, my best friend, Mandy, decided to move here first and that sealed the deal. One of the reasons I’m excited to return to touring next year (both solo and with Heartache Sisters) is to get to visit my homeland again. I miss it, but always feel connected.

Q You've got your finger on the pulse of the Bay Area music scene as a steadily performing artist and a talent buyer — whose inspiring you now?
MKS There are far too many to name and I’d hate to leave out someone I really adore. Instead, I think I’ll name the bands I’ll be sharing bills with coming up. The Demons I Knew (10/11 at Amnesia, SF), The McCoy Tyler Band, Secret Town (11/13’s The Heartless Woman Ball at Leo’s, Oakland), Maurice Tani, Loretta Lynch, and Yard Sale (featuring Jill Olson, Denise Funari and Melanie deGiovanni) (11/22 at The Starry Plough, Berkeley).

Q Describe your writing process. Do you write words first or start on an instrument?
MKS The melody and chord progression come along first, then the words fit themselves in. Sometimes a single line of a lyric and the melody occur together while driving in the car and I’ll develop the rest when I have a guitar or ukulele in my hand later, but that’s less common.

Q How do you feel to have your first solo show is coming up? What can audiences expect?
MKS I’m excited for my first solo show under my very own legal name. Audiences can expect a slight tingling sensation, but it won’t be anything to be alarmed by. Musically it will be a mix of my new songs, with a few older tunes from projects that have stuck with me and deserve to live on. Style-wise, I suppose you can revert back to the earliest influences question and imagine what that mix sounds like filtered through my personality.

Michele Kappel-Stone plays a rare solo show at Amnesia, 835 Valencia, San Francisco, October 11 at 6pm; Laura Benitez & The Heartache celebrate the release of their full-length CD Heartless Woman November 13 at Leo's Music Club, 5447 Telegraph, Oakland. For more information visit http://michelekappelstone.com/ 

Artist Interview: Oakland Musician Blood & Dust

Blood & Dust, aka Oakland-based artist Doug Tiemann, first came to my attention through the Balanced Breakfast East Bay music meet-ups. A hard-working and well-respected artist, the Midwest native has been tearing up the Bay Area circuit, garnering raves for his brand of acoustic soul. Leading up to our shared gig at The Monkey House in Berkeley this Saturday, September 27, Blood & Dust kindly answered my questions about his musical path.
 
 Q: How did you first start singing and writing songs?

BD: I actually started writing songs pretty late in the game.  I spent many years playing drums and percussion and picked up the guitar in college.  It wasn't until grad school that I got the gumption to write a song.  Life had changed a lot and I had my first quarter life crisis, so I decided to write about it.

Q:  Who were some of your earliest influences?

BD: I have an interesting mix of influences.  My father grew up in the 50's and 60's so naturally there is a lot of early rock n' roll and Motown in my influences.  I still draw a lot of inspiration from early soul singers like Al Green, Marvin Gaye, and Otis Redding.   My mother brought to the table a lot of songwriters from the 60's and 70's like Simon & Garfunkel and John Prine.  I can't help but acknowledge these influences mix in the way that I approach my singing and writing. Today I find a lot of inspiration from songwriters like David Ramirez and Amos Lee among many others.

Q: Blood and Dust. Great name. What led to it?

BD: Blood & Dust came out of needing a name.  Doug Tiemann isn't a bad name, but it's not a great stage name either.  It pretentious to me to change my name to something cool so I thought that I would choose a name that could work whether I was playing solo or if I had a whole band behind me.  I wanted something gritty and earthy, something that when you heard my music, it made sense with the name.  Blood & Dust was where I landed, I figured that it's either a great name for an Americana band or perhaps some sort of death metal band.  It seemed to make sense to me so there I landed.

Q  What/who led you to California? Can you say anything in respect to how the Bay Area music scene is influencing you in contrast to/or similarly to your experience as a musician in the Midwest and South?

BD: I originally came to bay area to attend graduate school.  I'm a Midwest boy, so you can imagine that the Bay Area changed my life a bit.  I even moved away for a short while but I couldn't stand NOT to live here so I moved back. The Bay Area has been a huge part of my influence as a songwriter.  I've been a musician in the south and the Midwest and while there are definitely scenes, the Bay Area music community inspired me to write, to build community, and to try to be part of something bigger than myself.  While every music scene is competitive, the Bay Area scene has a sense of camaraderie that, I believe, has allowed me to pursue music and grow in my craft.

Q4: What are you working on now? Any new projects or recordings shaping up?

BD:  I've been working on a new block of songs since my first album.  Sophomore albums are definitely a challenge across the board, but I'm excited to explore new sounds. My first album ended up sounding a little more like a rock album, but I'm excited about the using roots instruments and what that will bring to the mix.  Revisiting old songs with new instrumentation has been really refreshing as well.

Q: You host a music series—what's it like for you being on the other side of putting on a show? Any rewards, pitfalls, or recommendations to share with us? 

BD: I was doing a concert series called "An Evening in DogTown."  While it's currently on hiatus, the experience there has been invaluable to me.  I think what made our concert series so valuable to those who participated was that we kept our focus on the most important thing: the music and the people making it.  When you abandon that for just trying to get people in the door you lose something.  I would say that there are too many venues that are only concerned about making a quick buck.  It's a business, and to be successful money has to be made, but you have to care about the product you put out.  I think this is why so many of my fellow Bay Area musicians are seeking out more house show gigs.  I would encourage anyone that wants to pursue putting on house shows to clearly define their reasons for doing so — that's a good start. 
Blood & Dust appears live at The Monkey House Theater in Berkeley, Saturday, September 27, 2014 7:30pm. Tickets & more information: http://monkeyhousetheater.com/ 

Artist Interview: The Welcome Matt's POP JUNK FLUFF and HYPE

San Francisco musician Matt Langlois, aka The Welcome Matt, is a tireless, fearless and fun artist. Touring, collaborating and recording continuously, the Bay Area-via-New England troubadour has had his work featured on  KFOG’s popular Local Scene CD twice, teamed up with renowned modern dance choreographer Christine Cali to co-create multi-day dance performances, and signed a publishing deal with Wixen Publishing. Along the way, he co-wrote a top-40 European hit “San Francisco,” by Cascada, recorded and released a video for his cover of David Bowie’s ‘DJ’, collaborated with Cali on another three-day production, ‘L.O.A.D.E.D.’ and launched a video series featuring other local artists guesting on his songs called 'Welcome Matt Wednesdays.' Amid all these accomplishments, he managed to sneak in recording a new collection of indie-rock goodness, “POP JUNK FLUFF and HYPE,” recorded at Lost Monkey Studios in Hayward, CA.   Advance notice on POP JUNK FLUFF and HYPE, which will be released July 16, is already attracting critical raves: "Pop Junk Fluff and Hype"...romps eagerly around the ears," wrote The Ringmaster Review. "Fiery rock guitars flame over the pop canvas whilst vocals and keys leap with energetic rigour and enterprise. It is a spellbinding mix of styles and flavours, electro and alternative rock... yet another impossible to ignore or resist piece of excellent rock ‘n’ roll."  

Langlois discussed the process and influences leading up to his latest batch of songs... and his next!

Q:Who do you count as major influences?

The Welcome Matt: David Bowie, The Kinks, The Clash, The Replacements, Aimee Mann, Blumfeld, Camper Van Beethoven, Devo, The Who, Blur, Roy Orbison and Gil Scott Heron.

Q: Can you name your top three albums?  

TWM:[I] first listened to these during pivotal points of my creative up bringing. They conjure a certain sense of longing:

Scary Monsters—David Bowie

London Calling—The Clash

Lola vs the Powerman Moneygoround—The Kinks

Q: When did you write your first song? 

TWM: 8th Grade “Right Back To the Center." I probably thought I was channeling John Lennon.

Q: What's your writing process like? Do you write everyday? 

TWM: Like all mechanisms of survival and coping with existence… eating, sleeping, staying healthy, not staying healthy, and dreaming. In other words it’s in constant motion…songs are always smoldering.

Q: How did you go about selecting the songs for POP JUNK FLUFF and HYPE? Did you have them all before you went into the studio or did the recording process inspire new material? 

TWM: Yes, I wrote a list of songs i thought that would work together sonically and conceptually.

Most songs come in batches… originally these came as a loose concept album.

I was originally going to name the CD “The Return of a generation xer," hence, “The Welcome Back.” Then “ Key of G" which is about shedding the past. After that comes songs with loose concepts of that person dealing with aspects of modern day life such as technology, government surveillance, mind control through consumerism, global warming ("A Hail Mary"). But the “Xer” leaves again [and] travels the world (Let’s Really Go) to gain perspective and makes a decision to “Cast a Line” toward living more life despite the negative effects of the current state of things (instead of throwing in the towel on the world in which he/she has come back to). I decided to simplify and name it POP JUNK FLUFF and HYPE.

Q: Describe the recording process for you?  

TWM: 4 cups of hacking out rough sketches of song arrangements with 3 tablespoons of tempo, mix in a layer of drum groove over a thick bed of bass, ( keep stirring !). All the while sprinkle over various guitars, synthesizers, percussion, maybe a little piano, roll it all around a preheated pan of vocals, shove it in your brain oven for a bunch of weeks until you’ve eaten and digested it all, and hope someday others will want to sit down at your table and enjoy a nice meal.

Q: Did songs take on different directions in the studio? What might be the most different result of what you brought with you to the studio?

TWM: Very often and most of the time I wonder how they’ll come out on the other side. 
More info @ www.welcomemattsf.com/
Buy Cast A Line on itunes HERE
Listen to songs from POPJUNKFLUFF and HYPE performed LIVE. @The RiteSpot  3153 17th
July 17th 5:30pm (Pre-set performance for CALI&CO's You ARE HERE @ODC Theater)
then again @The Rite Spot 3153 17th July 20th 8:30pm

Artist Interview: Cosy Sheridan on Making and Taking Songs and Vitamin C (Creativity)

My ears went on high alert and I sat up a little straighter when I first heard Cosy Sheridan play at the Far-West Conference in Irvine last month. Playing impeccably wrought and heartfelt songs about everything from the wonders of learning to play your own guitar to the dangers lurking in the waters of a mining town, it was immediately clear why she was one of the conference's official showcasing artists. Of all the very fine music I heard that weekend,  her songs were exemplary... you know, songs with a capital S, songs that make you believe songs can change the world.  Plus she had that uncanny ability to make everyone in the audience feel as if she'd known you your whole life and knew exactly what type of song you wanted to hear.

Of course, I was just late to the party. To date, Cosy has released more than 10 CDs of original music, founded a successful folk camp and toured a one-woman show to much acclaim. Wanting to get more up-to-speed, I asked Cosy some questions about her work as she wrapped up another successful songwriting camp in Moab, Utah. 

Q: Tell us a little bit about early inspiration to be a writer & your writing process? Do you remember the first song you wrote? 

CS: The first song I wrote was in junior high. I had a guitar teacher in Concord NH who encouraged me to try writing a song. So I wrote about how it would feel to walk through the doors in the doll house I had when I was younger.

Q: What first brought you to Utah and motivated you to make a home there?  Listening to you play 'Don't Go in the Water' reminded me of Ed Abbey and Terry Tempest Williams who love(d) the land there and have fought for it's protection. Can you talk about living in Moab and how the Southern Utah landscape and community influence your work. What is your thinking about writer-as-activist?  

CS: I moved to Moab in 1994. I had been driving through there since the mid-80’s — I used to work in the Grand Canyon—I would sing in the Bright Angel Bar — in the summers and I would drive through Moab on the way there and back and I fell in love with the town, and with the southwest.

Living in Moab exposed me to the writers and artists of the southwest — like Ed Abbey and Terry Tempest Williams; “Desert Solitude” (Abbey) and “Refuge” (Tempest Williams) were two of the books that I read in my early years in Moab. They both taught me a lot. 

I think the landscape of the southern Utah influenced my writing in a couple of ways. First, I found I had more time to write — large blocks of time — because there really wasn’t much work (concert venues) in the immediate area of Moab, so I would either be on tour, or I would be home. In New England it was more likely I would be working every weekend and so I wouldn’t ever get as quiet and introverted as I might in Moab.

As to writer-as-activist: I have found that if an issue effects me enough — if it really gets into my heart — than a song will arise from it. I don’t think of myself as the sort of writer who can choose a topic, though — and then write a song about it. The one exception might be “Don’t Go In The Water” — which I wrote on a run on along the Colorado River. There was a lot of discussion in town at that time about how to raise awareness on the issue of the uranium tailings pile. I really wanted to write a song to help — and that song appeared.

Q: Your song 'Air Guitar' details the great value to ones life in having a guitar.  Can you tell us about some of the teachers who have had the biggest influence on your playing?

CS: My biggest influence was my babysitter Patsy Niswander who taught me how to play guitar when I was 9. She taught me for probably 2-3 years. The next biggest influence was probably the musicians in Portsmouth, NH in and around Boston in the mid-80’s. I dropped out of Amherst College and moved to Portsmouth in 1984. Harvey Reid was one of my first roommates — he was a  Winfield national fingerpicking champion. I also took guitar lessons from Eric Schoenberg and Guy Van Duser — they both taught in the Boston area. (Eric now has a guitar shop in Marin County, CA.)

Eric is a seemless player — he is one of the early DADGAD pioneers in fingerstyle guitar; and Guy developed a way of transcribing stride piano pieces to the guitar. Sitting in a room with him was  overwhelming and yet inspiring. He did things no one really was doing at that time.

Q: Who were some of your earliest influences and is there any music/writer you're finding especially, or newly, exciting or inspiring right now?

CS: My earliest influences were probably my brother and sister’s record collections — Peter Paul &a Mary, Joni Mitchell, the Beatles. My strongest memory is of my brother putting the little headphones from his Walkman on my ears in about 2nd grade — and playing me Bonnie Raitt’s “Streetlights” album (on a cassette, of course). 

"There's a lot to be lost in this great wide world

Don't walk away from love

It might not look like you planned

your family might not understand

Don't walk away from love

We move around the wheel

up and down how we feel

Don't walk away from love

We are darkness, we are light

we don't always do it right

Don't walk away from love"

     — Cosy Sheridan "Don't Walk Away From Love"  from The Horse King

Q: From the looks of the curriculum, Moab Folk Camp seems to be among the more comprehensive songwriting camps around. How has this evolved and what's new this year (if anything)?

CS: Moab Folk Camp is 6 years old this year! The curriculum started out being mostly centered on songwriting, singing and guitar; over the years I have tried to add in other instruments and styles. This year we have banjo, ukelele, mandolin and percussion — as well as photography and painting. My all-time music camp hero is  Puget Sound Guitar Workshop up in Washington State. They have a remarkably comprehensive program — and a very supportive open-hearted approach. They are a much bigger camp, and they have three weeks of workshops — but whenever possible, I have tried to model our little camp on them. 

I have to give a nod to my campers, though, for making Moab Folk Camp a success. They have returned year after year to help co-create this fabulous community of friends and musicians who spend a week together in a beautiful place — sharing and learning and filling up on Vitamin C (creativity).

Q: Gazing into the future a little bit, what can listeners expect over the next 6-12 months? Any big tours or recordings or?

CS: I just released a solo CD of songs that students have asked to learn over the years; there is a songbook coming out this winter with lead sheets and chord charts for each song.

I’m also working on a CD of new material that I hope to have out by the winter. It is tentatively titled “Lost & Found.”

Get the latest information about Cosy Sheridan's music, camps and shows at http://www.cosysheridan.com/

Artist Interview: Ira Marlowe and the Mortimus Greely Haunting School

East Bay songwriter Ira Marlowe is one of the more prolific of the Bay Area's creative geniuses.  Writing songs for both adults (Save The Day) and children (The Chills: Creepy Songs for Courageous Kids, The Teasing Bird), he's won oodles of awards (SF Weekly's "Best of the Bay" song contest, the Napa Valley Music Festival) and garnered the praise of the press. Plus he runs one of the best local places to hear original songwriters, The Monkey House. Now, he's bringing us Mortimus Greely's Haunting School, a multi-media event featuring songs, games, interactive video, a 'calcium-rich anatomy lesson' and more. If you want to elevate this Halloween above pumpkin carving and candy corn get yourself to The Monkey House, starting this weekend, Oct. 12, 2013, when the show opens. 

While Ira is likely (hopefully?) writing a book on how to keep one's muse productive, he did share a little information about what led to his latest project. 

Q: Who or what inspired the Haunting School?

IM:  Oddly enough it was inspired by a spooky kids song I wrote with that title.  In the song, kids get to participate by imitating the scary sounds I make.  It was always such a hit that I thought it could be the template for a whole multimedia stage show.

Q: Tell us about Mortimus Greely.
IM: Mortimus is an erudite old ghoul, very refined and a touch British,  He's appalled that kids today spend so much time playing video games and he's here to teach them the finer points of the "dark dimension" he inhabits.  He has a bit of a sad story, which he reveals in the end.

Q You write for kids and adults — do you know if its going to be one way or another from the outset? Which leads us to your writing process: Do you sit down with an intended song or song subject in mind, or are you a wait-for-the-muse type?

IM:  With the kids songs, I tend to "write on assignment."  I have two CDs of spooky songs and I will deliberately say, "OK, I need a mummy song."  Or a werewolf song.  Sometimes I look at classic films.  That's where I got "Has Anybody Heard About the Blob?" and "The Boy with Two Heads."  But it's funny, I have more than a few songs that I wrote for kids which I regularly include in my adult shows.  They always go over great. 

Q Who are some of your favorite artists/mentors/heroes, living or ... haunting!? 
IM: Ha! At this point I'd say my role model is Shel Sliverstein, who worked in several different media and wrote both serious and funny stuff, for both adults and kids.  But I always loved any songwriter who wrote colorful, narrative songs that blurred the line between adult and kids music — The Beatles ("The Continuing Adventures of Bungalow Bill", many more...), Paul Simon ("At the Zoo"), even David Bowie, with his early songs like "Kooks."

Mortimus Greely's HAUNTING SCHOOLThis interactive performance involves a roomful of kids, a handful of ghosts, and one ghoulish (yet kindly) instructor, runs about 60 minutes and is best for kids 7-12.  Tickets are only $10 via Brown Paper Tickets:  http://bpt.me/475688  Opening day (10/12) tickets are only $5, but must be purchased at the door to receive this half-price discount.  October 12, 13, 19, 20, 26, 27  Doors 2:45, Show @ 3Halloween show:  Doors 4:45, Show at 5Final show! November 1, 8PM Followed by the Monkey House Halloween Party!!! Reserve your seats at reservations@monkeyhousetheater.com

More about Ira: http://www.iramarlowe.com. Buy Ira's recordings @ The Monkey House or via Cdbaby