Happy Birthday Jerry Garcia!

                          Photo by Annie Leibovitz

Mark O'Connor Sidewalk Performance 3/24/13

The inimitable Mark O'Connor.  There are some musicians out there for whom I have no adequate words because no words will do them justice.  Legendary fiddler/violinist and composer Mark O'Connor is one of those musicians. Here he is playing on the sidewalk outside of the Balboa Theater in San Diego with guitarist Tony Ludiker.   Thanks to joyoffiddling for sharing the video.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience Interview 9/7/68

Terry David Mulligan interviews The Jimi Hendrix Experience on September 7, 1968 in Vancouver, BC. 

Michael Hedges: Aerial Boundaries

I like to think of Michael Hedges as an acoustic revolutionary.  He was truly one of a kind, and his music speaks for itself.  Here is a clip taken from a currently discontinued DVD that features his July 1986 performance at the SIR Sound Stage in Los Angeles.

Throw Down Your Heart

I recently watched the wonderful 2008 documentary "Throw Down Your Heart" starring American banjo extraordinaire Béla Fleck.  In this documentary Béla sets out to explore and experience the African roots of the banjo while making some beautiful music in the process.  This is truly one of the most amazingly beautiful documentaries I have ever seen.  As an African-American, longtime banjo music lover, and newbie banjo player, I found this film deeply touching and inspirational.  If you have any kind of love for music in your heart, do yourself a favor and go see this documentary.  Below I have linked a short YouTube clip from the documentary. 

Revolutionizing Bluegrass: The Infamous Stringdusters

The Infamous Stringdusters

 

Earlier this month I had the chance to see two live performances by my favorite bluegrass band—the Infamous Stringdusters.  The Infamous Stringdusters are an award-winning bluegrass fusion band hailing from Charlottesville, Virginia.  These guys are known for their radically experimental yet firmly grounded performances within the bluegrass genre.   The Stringdusters are Jeremy Garrett (fiddle), Andy Falco (guitar), Chris Pandolfi (banjo), Travis Book (upright bass), and Andy Hall (slide guitar).  The band's groundbreaking sound is rooted in a solid bluegrass platform that they have taken to a new level, mixing all sorts of creative influences into their compositions as well as their infamously intense live performances while staying true to the roots of the genre.  These guys have a truly revolutionary sound.  I saw the Stringdusters play the Greenfield Lake Amphitheatre in Wilmington, North Carolina and the Bondurant Auditorium at Radford University in Radford, Virginia.   I enjoyed both shows, but I was especially impressed by the Wilmington show.   

Wilmington is a fun, quirky little beach town located at the mouth of the Cape Fear River on the southern coast of North Carolina.   In addition to being a very important historical site for the American Civil War, the Wilmington region is also the original home of the Venus Flytrap, among other things.  Greenfield Lake Amphitheatre is an amazing outdoor venue located in Greenfield Lake Park in Wilmington, and is regarded as one of the city's local gems.   In Wilmington, on the day of the show, bursts of immaculate sunlight in the morning were followed by light overcast cloud cover through the afternoon hours.   There were sporadic light rain showers on and off during the afternoon. The local forecast had called for thunderstorms that night.  Although the light intermittent rain showers had subsided by the time the show started, and local newscasts were predicting the storm to arrive fairly late in the evening, it was still uncertain whether or not the encroaching storm would hold off long enough for the Stringdusters to perform their show.  Indeed, the band announced early on during the show that they would play until the rain arrived, and throughout much of the show it looked as though the skies might burst open and rain down on us at any moment.  The pre-storm low-pressure atmosphere provided an ominously pleasant breeze throughout the show, which added to the already giddy energy of the venue.  However, to everyone's delight the rain held off for the entire show.  In fact, oddly enough, towards the end of the show I noticed that the sky above had actually become relatively clear, which kind of tripped me out at the time.  Nonetheless, it did rain pretty hard later in the evening, when I was hanging out at a local pub with my friends Burt and Courtney, and their wonderful dog Floyd. 

The Stringdusters are very loyal to their fans, and one way they demonstrate this loyalty is by posting nearly all of their live performances online to their 'Show Hive' for their fans to enjoy, usually within hours of leaving the stage.   You can stream a high quality soundboard recording of the entire 4/19/13 Wilmington show below.  I enjoyed the whole show, but a personal highlight of the show for me was the band's performance of "Like I Do" (begins at 42:32), a track off of their latest album, Silver Sky.

Greenfield Lake Amphitheater
(Photo courtesy of John Sawyer Architects)

Here's to love, solidarity, and freedom in 2013.  I'm starting off this year with an electro house vid from the very lovable German duo, Digitalism.  I'm already feeling like 2013 is a good year to bring things full circle. ♥

YMSB

Yonder Mountain String Band.  I have been listening to this #Colorado-based bluegrass fusion band since 2001.  I am a fan.  This clip features YMSB performing  'On The Run'-->'Steep Grade' live w/ Danny Barnes and Drew Emmitt at the Northwest String Summit, Horning's Hideout July 24, 2011. Thanks to Steve Holmes for sharing the video.