[DID NOT ATTEND: April 23, 2023] Nickel Creek / Gaby Moreno
Nickel Creek was one of the bands on my “really wanna see but they probably won’t tour” list. So when they announced this tour I was pretty excited to see them.
I also grabbed a ticket for my wife, thinking we could spend a nice Sunday evening near her birthday at a show and maybe a dinner.
But I think she wasn’t especially interested from the get go. Every time I mentioned it, there was no excitement. By the time the show came around, I pretty much knew we weren’t going to go.
She encouraged me to go by myself, but it didn’t feel right. So I’m guessing I never will see them after all.
Ironically, just a few days later, Nickel Creek had to postpone several of their dates because Chris Thile was sick:
“Nothing upsets us more than not being able to deliver a scheduled performance (which has happened just once before in our 34 years as a band), especially because as devoted concertgoers ourselves, we know how much goes into attending,” the band wrote. “We are deeply moved (and now further saddened) to see and hear the stories of how many of you were traveling/have travelled to join us at these shows, and will be doing EVERYTHING IN OUR POWER to make it up to you over the course of this year’s touring. We are so grateful for each and every one of you, and so, so, SO sorry about the news.”
They went on to describe the circumstances behind their postponements, sharing that Thile began the tour with a sinus infection, then caught the flu and did his best to power through it, which damaged his vocal chords. They went on to write, “[Thile’s] doctor, one of the country’s top voice specialists, says that he’d be risking far more serious damage if we proceeded and has prescribed a couple of weeks of rest and rehab.” They went on to thank everyone, including their fans, their crew and their management team – who are currently doing everything to make things amended as smoothly and quickly as possible and closed the message with hopes that they’ll be performing once again in late May.
I wondered if he wasn’t especially “on” for our show, but I’ll never know.
I know of Gaby Moreno from a Tiny Desk Concert which really impressed me. She sings in both English and Spanish and brings a lot of her home country of Guatemala to her music.
SOUNDTRACK: SARA WATKINS-Tiny Desk (Home) Concert #209 (May 13, 2021).
You never really know what you’ll get with Sara Watkins. Well, that’s not true, you know you’ll get wonderful music in some variant of folk. Whether she’s playing with Nickel Creek or her brother in Watkins Family Hour, there’s going to be harmonies and wonderful violin. The big surprise for me for this concert was that she opened with “Tumbling Tumbleweeds.” Yes, “Tumbling Tumbleweeds” by Sons of the Pioneers. The trio of Sara Watkins, Alan Hampton and Davíd Garza’s voices sound fantastic together.
This is so enchanting. The painted scrim, the scenery trees are not only a setting for Sara Watkins and her bandmates, but we also discover a “magic desk.” And as Sara lifts the desk’s top, we hear a guitar playing an alluring melody; in fact, it’s Harry Nilsson’s dreamy song “Blanket For a Sail.”
Davíd Garza, [what’s he been up to?] plays the melody and then the rest join in, with Sara playing the violin like a guitar. Then when Sara puts bow to violin she and Garza share some fun soloing. Hampton’s upright bass is a perfect low end for these songs.
These songs are surprising to me, but I guess they shouldn’t.
The songs are from her new album, Under the Pepper Tree. “It’s a children’s record, largely inspired by thinking back on the music that meant so much to me as a kid,” she says. “I’ve got a daughter now, and so much of the music that I heard as a kid has stayed with me and served me well.”
One of music’s magical properties for Sara is the way it can ease transitions. Maybe it’s from childhood to adolescence, or falling in and out of love, or simply getting your child to sleep. For this Tiny Desk, we hear old cowboy tunes via the Sons of the Pioneers or Rogers and Hammerstein’s “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
The album is called “Under the Pepper Tree” because she has had a pepper tree in every house she’s lived in in Southern California {I’ve never heard of pepper trees]. They have a lacey canopy like a willow tree like a fort. The song is a delightful instrumental.
“You’ll Never Walk Alone” is an old standard and Sara sounds really impressive hitting those high notes at the end.
“Night Singing” is a song she wrote to her daughter, but she realized it was a song she needed to hear as well. It’s for anyone who needs to feel that they are cared for. It’s a beautiful lullaby.
A lot of musicians make children’s records after they become parents, and that’s no bad thing.
[READ: June 5, 2021] Have You Seen the Dublin Vampire?
I don’t post about children’s books very often. But since this came across my desk at work (an even more rare occurrence!), I thought it would be fun to read it.
I’m not familiar with Úna Woods. This is a rhyming picture book with really fun illustrations–I’m assuming assembled on Photoshop. The lines are very smooth and consistent and the leaves are all the same with just different colors.
I don’t know if the Dublin Vampire is a thing. Although Ireland is famous for its vampire creators.
Bram Stoker creator of the world’s most important male vampire in the world (Dracula) was born in Clontarf. Sheridan Le Fanu, creator of the pre-eminent female vampire (Carmilla), was born on Dominick Street. [Thanks to Supernatural Dublin].
I don’t know Dublin well enough to know if there is a “moon-shaped park with a creepy old tree,” but that’s where the Dublin Vampire lives.
He rides a ghost bus (I’m ALMOST positive there isn’t such a bus in Dublin). (more…)
I got tickets for S and I to see Chris Thile because we both like Nickel Creek. I’m not even sure that I told her about this show before McCarter decided to cancel their entire season.
Chris Thile is a masterful mandolin player. I’ve seen him on numerous occasions in various Tiny Desk Concerts and I saw him with Punch Brothers, which was a lot of fun.
I’m not sure what he would have done as a solo artist (or if he was going to have special guests). I don’t really care so much either, because whatever he did would be great.
SOUNDTRACK: I’M WITH HER-Tiny Desk Concert #722 (March 28, 2018).
I’m with Her is a kind of a folk supergroup comprised of Aoife O’Donovan, Sarah Jarosz and Sara Watkins. As the blurb notes:
The three singers who perform together as I’m With Her sound like sisters. It’s as if they’ve known each other all their lives and share common roots and musical memories… All three are brilliant players with an ever-shifting array of stringed instruments, guitars, ukulele, fiddle, mandolin and banjo. As I’m With Her, they know how to gather round a microphone and sing directly from their heart to yours. Purity is the brilliance behind I’m With Her.
They also share coming to the Tiny Desk:
Sara Watkins was here with Nickel Creek (2014), Watkins Family Hour (2015) and The Decemberists (2011). Sarah Jarosz was here in 2013 and Aoife O’Donovan came along with Yo Yo Ma and Chris Thile as part of the Goat Rodeo project back in 2011.
They play three songs from their debut album.
The first is “See You Around.” Sarah sings this first song. Sarah and Aoife play guitar and Sara is playing an oversized ukulele. At the end of each section their harmonies are wonderful. It’s a really pretty song, with a great melody. Then at around 2 minutes the song switches gears to the “shiny piece of my heart” section which changes the timbre and tone of the song. Aoife takes over a bit and the song grows a bit darker and their voices sound more powerful.
For “Game to Lose” Sara switches to fiddle, Aoife plays Sarah’s guitar and Sarah is on mandolin. I absolutely love the violin part and the way it plays off of the mandolin. After a few measures, when they sing in three-part harmony from the get go…. Wow. I love Aoife’s voice as she sings the end of the chorus, the mandolin is just fantastic and the fiddle trills are exquisite.
As they tune before the final song, Bob asks how many instruments they brought…. The answer is, a lot. And they couldn’t leave without some banjo. Then Aoife asks about the pink lemonade gummy bunny. Bob says people leave random things. You’re welcome to leave something too. Aoife says, “I thought you were going to say I was welcome to eat it.”
Sarah says I feel like we’re just settling in, I wish we could play all day (and so do I!).
For the final song, “Overland” Sarah switches to banjo. Aoife has the same guitar and Sara is on guitar too. Sara sniffs a few times and then deadpans, “Sorry I’ve got a coke problem, it keeps sneaking up on me.” Everyone laughs and Sarah cracks up. Bob says we’ll just have to loop that and Sara says, “we need some scandal.”
The song begins with Sara on lead vocals and Sarah’s banjo. It is the most country sounding of the three (which surprises a bit since I don’t think of Sara’s voice as sounding like that). But again, it’s the harmonies that are huge.
[READ: January 15, 2018] “Chicken Winchell”
This story was published in Vicky Swanky Is a Beauty, although as with most of William’s pieces I don’t remember it at all.
This story, which is half a page long, mentions three women characters and then uses “she” for the rest. So I’m not sure which “she” is being spoken about. There’s a waitress, a daughter and a mother. The waitress wonders why the daughter never returned. But apparently she did.
I have listened to this Tiny Desk Concert so many times I can’t believe I never posted about it. This was my first exposure to Chris Thile, and in the two years since I watched this I have become a huge fan of his (and of singer Sara Watkins).
“Destination” was probably my favorite song from 2014 and is still amazingly catchy. Nickel Creek’s harmonies are superb-lead by Sara and accompaniment by the other three, this song speeds along at a great clip with all kinds of fun instrumentation.
In addition to Thile on mandolin and Sara on violin, there’s Sean Watkins on guitar and Mark Schatz on upright bass.
I liked the way the players shifted positions to let Chris sing lead on “Rest of My Life.” He introduced this song by saying, “this is the first day that I will be singing with my new braces. I am 12 years old.” With his new singing impediment he says this song is “Sung not as a its hungover protagonist but by its be-brace-ed protagonist.” The melody is done on guitar and upright bass with Thile’s mandolin playing most of the higher notes and occasional grace notes from Watkins’ violin. There’s also a delightful “lullaby” sounding section in the middle.
“21s of May” is sung by Sean. He introduces this jaunty song with “Remember when the rapture almost happened three years ago?” May 21st was supposed to be judgement day so he thought he should write one more song and so he did. He plays a great lead guitar melody on this song with great harmonies.
At the end of the song Thile bangs the gong and then asks if they want one more short song. Then he admits that its longer than the other three. It’s an instrumental song called “Elephant in the Corn.” When the crowd cheers, Sean says it’s “Huge in Washington DC.”
I love that Chris and Sean get some fast solo and then Sara take as really slow violin leads that leads to a cool bass slide. The song picks up again with Thile playing some amazingly fast mandolin licks. And just when you think it’s all over, there’s a coda tacked on as well–and not just a “this is the end coda” either.
Nickel Creek has been around forever, and I’m only bummed that it took me until 2014 to actually hear them.
[READ: February 26, 2016] “Thirteen Hundred Rats”
Somehow I didn’t expect the title of this story to be taken literally. And yet, it most certainly was.
I really enjoyed the way this story was constructed. It is told by a man who is somewhat proud of himself. He talks about the small village that they live in–a small village of 50 or so houses created by industrialist B.P. Newhouse (who hoped it would be a model of utopian living). The narrator and his wife live there although they tend to travel the world now that they are older.
He tells the story of a village resident named Gerard. He and Gerard had been friends and had congratulated themselves on not having any children. Gerard’s wife had recently died and Gerard took it hard. He wasn’t eating, wasn’t going out. And people began to worry about him.
Villagers suggested that he should get a pet. Even the narrator’s wife suggested it. So the narrator trudged down to Gerard’s house, with his two dogs in tow to talk to Gerard. (more…)
Bob Boilen has liked Angel Olsen for some time, so when she did her Tiny Desk and most of us had never heard of her, he was already a fan.
Olsen plays a long set but with four songs.
She sits very still, strumming with her thumb and singing kind of low–not unlike Sharon van Etten. The first song, “Unfucktheworld” is only two ans a half minutes. The second song, “Iota,” is a little longer. She sings in an affected almost falsetto style, although the guitar remains very spare.
Between these songs, she is coy about the title of the new record although she is quick to say the first word of the title “burn.” Later she admits that the final song contains the title of the album, if we wanted to spend time figuring it out.
I marvelled at how high the chords were that she played on “Enemy,” She seems to eschew any bass for this song. This one is five and a half minutes long and is just as slow as the others.
Before the final song they talk about whether this is the most awkward show she has done. She says everyone is very alert–and indeed you can hear utter silence between songs. But then they talk about the storm outside (and potential tornado) and how this show may never air if the storm is really bad.
“White Fire” is an 8 minute story song. She does use the whole guitar for this one, which has many many verses. Since I don’t really know Olsen’s stuff that well, I don’t know if this was a good example of her show or a fun treat to hear her in such an intimate way.
[READ: May 10, 2016] Your Song Changed My Life
This site is all about music and books, but you may be surprised to know that I don’t really like books about music all that much. I have read a number of them—biographies, autobiography or whatever, and I don’t love them wholesale. Some are fine, but in general musicians aren’t really as interesting as they may seem.
What I do like however, is hearing a decent interview with musicians to find out some details about them–something that will flesh out my interest in them or perhaps make me interested in someone I previously wasn’t. Not a whole book, maybe just an article, I guess.
I also really like Bob Boilen. I think he’s a great advocate of music and new bands. I have been listening to his shows on NPR for years and obvious I have been talking about hundreds of the Tiny Desk Concerts that he originated. I also really like his taste in music. So I was pretty psyched when Sarah got me this book for my birthday.
I read it really quickly–just devoured the whole thing. And it was really enjoyable. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: CHRIS THILE & MICHAEL DAVES-Tiny Desk Concert #133 (June 13, 2011).
After seeing Avi Avital play an amazing show last week, it seemed only fitting to mention a show with an other amazing mandolin player. Chris Thile does some incredible work on that tiny instrument. I’d love to see a duel between the two of them—it would be mind blowing.
Thile has played with many many different musicians, both in bands (Punch Brothers, Nickel Creek) and as duos and trios. And this duet with guitarist Michael Daves is fantastic.
Daves plays a folkie electric guitar and sings. They share lead and harmony vocal duties (with Thile usually going higher). And while Thile’s mandolin solos are incredible, Daves is no slouch on the guitar either–his fingering may be just as fast as Thile’s.
The two have a great rapport (and play a super long set!). The duo met and were going to record one song, but it turned into more than a dozen. And they play 6 of them during this show.
“Sleep With One Eye Open” feature Daves on lead vocal. It’s upbeat and bouncy folk with a country twang attached. (I love that Thile’s mandolin is just as loud as Dave’s guitar). And I love watching Thile bounce around while playing.
They duet on vocals for “Rabbit in the Log” which is about the inherent cuteness and tastiness of rabbits. Thile’s fingerwork is mind blowing until you hear the solo that Daves does. And how does a song that’s so fast end so sweetly?
“Bury Me Beneath The Willow” is slower song with Thile on lead vocals. it shows that their whole act isn’t about speed.
“Billy In The Lowground” Thile says that Billy, “through no fault of his own ended up in the lowground.” It’s an instrumental so we just have to imagine what Billy did. It’s another place for them to show off their skills.
“It Takes One to Know One” is a more bluesy than bluegrass song with Daves on lead vocals. It’s alike a slow blues song with Daves’ country twang vocals. Thile’s slide solo is amazing—never seen anything quite like that on the mandolin (well, until Avi did something similar).
When their set should be over, Thile says they’ll do “one more for good measure.” “Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms” is an incredibly fast song. They duet on vocals but Daves really shines on the super fast guitar solos.
The more I see Chris Thile the more I’m impressed by him. I can’t wait to see who he teams up with next.
[READ: February 23, 2016] “There are Other Forces at Work”
John Darnielle, singer and guitarist for the Mountain Goats is also a fiction writer. And here is a great essay about John Cage.
Darnielle opens the essay by saying that on the day that Nixon resigned, Darnielle was 7, but he cheered anyone since he was taught that Nixon was the bad guy. And on that day, John Cage gave the first public reading of “Empty Word” a piece of unaccompanied voice in which he read from Thoreau’s journals and reduced the journals first to single words then to syllables and eventually to letters–drawing them out slower and slower.
This piece caused riots.
Then Darnielle gets to the meat of the matter. He has gone to Halberstadt because The John Cage Project has been performing Cages’ “ORGAN2/ASLSP” there since 2000. And it plans to run until 2640. Perhaps you have heard of this piece and its preposterous length.
There is a piano version of ASLSP (which stands for As Slow as Possible). Darnielle tries to imagine playing each note on a piano until it rang its length out (about 30 seconds). But an organ can play for as long a performer can hold the note. The only instruction Cage gave for the piece: “all eight pieces are to be played. However, any one of them may be repeated, though not necessarily, and as in ASLSP, the repetition may be placed anywhere in the series.” In other words you can play it for as long as you like
Here’s a 4 minute version
It is being performed in Halberstadt because the modern twelve note keyboard was in vented in Halberstadt in 1361. That was 639 years before 2000 and thus the entire piece will last until 2640 which is 639 years from 2000 (there’s nice symmetry for an asymmetrical piece). As such, since they were mathematical about it, they determined that one of the 8 parts would last 71 years. That’s 71 years of an organ playing a single note.
When Darnielle arrives it is for one of the changing of the chords. This discordant chord had been playing since 2012. Before he arrived, he tried to imagine what it would be like, and he is both underwhelmed but also moved by the simplicity of it. He says its not pretty or unpretty, it’s just sort of there–a kind of background drone. It’s also much quieter than he imagined. The chord is being played by sandbags–there is no keyboard.
The note change (and Darnielle’s visit) was on October 5, 2013. The next change is in 7 years. Here’s a list of planned chord changes (note they do not go until 2640)
The piece started with a 17-month rest on September 5, 2001, Cage’s 89th birthday. The first sound appeared on February 5, 2003. Subsequent dates for note changes include:
July 5, 2004
July 5, 2005
January 5, 2006
May 5, 2006
July 5, 2008
November 5, 2008
February 5, 2009
July 5, 2010
February 5, 2011
August 5, 2011
July 5, 2012
October 5, 2013
September 5, 2020
Beyond the sound of the chord there are things to see. An engraved metal panel attached to an iron rail at eye level–these were paid for by people as a funding for this project and they were allowed to write what they liked.
Darnielle was quite moved by the thing although he is concerned because they play the notes of the new chord one at a time–one note builds on the others. He says the piece is supposed to be just the one chord and that’s it. (Realistically it allowed the three people who were invited to begin the chord to each have a moment in the spotlight). Then he realizes that in the course of 639 years (if you were to compress it to a reasonable length) that will seem like a blip or a grave note.
Darnielle notes that Cage can still cause people’s ire to rise, just if you look at all of the YouTube comments on his piece “4’33′”(the silence piece). People are outraged by it, still.
I really enjoyed Darnielle’s look at this fascinating event. I really like Cage for his daring.
Chris Thile is a member of Nickel Creek whose last album I loved. He’s also appeared multiple times on Tiny Desk Concerts (with several different bands). And that’s where I saw Punch Brothers for the first time.
Punch Brothers are five guys–Chris Thile (mandolin), Gabe Witcher (fiddle/violin), Noam Pikelny (banjo), Chris Eldridge (guitar), and Paul Kowert (bass). They play a sort of bluegrass, but with a lot of elements of classical music (their debut has a classical suite on it and now they cover Debussey live). Other labels given to the band include “bluegrass instrumentation and spontaneity in the strictures of modern classical” as well as “American country-classical chamber music.”
That all goes a long way to not really describing what the band sounds like.
The five guys stood around one old timey microphone (like in the poster). ANd they blew us all away. (more…)
Nickel Creek was one of the bands on my “really wanna see but they probably won’t tour” list. So when they announced this tour I was pretty excited to see them.
I got tickets for S and I to see Chris Thile because we both like Nickel Creek. I’m not even sure that I told her about this show before McCarter decided to cancel their entire season.
I Just Read About That... 