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Paul Geremia
8:00 PM, Saturday, Nov 16, 2002 Otherlands Coffee Bar, 641 South Cooper, Memphis TN
Tickets $10.00 at Otherlands and Davis Kidd Booksellers.
The flat fact is, Paul Geremia has gone beyond idolatry. The Blues Community, of course, loves him for the gritty honesty of his art. Nobody on earth would
dispute his virtuosity, and in thirty seven years of playing nobody ever has, not from day one. There’s something else though, harder to pin down. He’s lived the life, done the homework, hung out with every old geezer he could, made a dozen recordings, played thousands of gigs, logged millions of miles, owned
every beat-up old car in Rhode Island. Those are results. Paul himself is a kind of first cause, the way he gets lost in the old music. Somehow by submerging into it, he makes its nature a little clearer for the rest of us. Perhaps his equanimity comes from fishing and from whiskey. He’s not sought the kind of success that has come to many who can¹t do a tenth of what he can without half trying. Maybe that’s what it is. Most every other blues performer does something, not wrong, but maybe plays too much, sings in an impossible accent, corrects the material, articulates too articulately. But Paul’s
just true.
Andy and Larken Cohen will open for Paul at 8:00.
Paul's concert is underwritten by Doris Johnston.
Harvey Reid
8:00 PM, Saturday, Oct 26, 2002 Otherlands Coffee Bar, 641 South Cooper, Memphis TN
Tickets $10.00
A musician's musician, a master minstrel, Harvey Reid has perfected his craft over the last 30 years at festivals, clubs, coffeehouses, and concert halls. His virtuosity spans guitar, banjo, mandolin, and autoharp, and styles such as folk, country, classical, blues, ragtime, and Celtic. A troubadour in the truest sense, Reid has stayed beneath radar throughout most of his career, all the while racking up awards that any star would be envious of. In 1976 he won the flatpicking contest at Bill Monroe's Beanblossom Bluegrass Festival. He was the 1981 National Fingerpicking Guitar Champion, and in 1982 won the International Autoharp Contest. In 1996 Acoustic Guitar Magazine chose his 1990 album, Steel Drivin' Man, as one of the 10 Essential Folk CD's of all time. Others on the list included The Weavers, Rev. Gary Davis, Joan Baez, Ry Cooder, and Woody Guthrie.
Twenty years ago, Reid established his independent record label, Woodpecker Records, on which he has released fourteen CDs. He now lives in Maine, and continues to tour and record regularly. Reid says, "It's not shameful, it's not a defeat to be on the fringes of the music business. It's where I have always wanted to be, and where I have always been."
Roy Book Binder
8:00 PM, Saturday, Oct 5, 2002 Otherlands Coffee Bar, 641 South Cooper, Memphis TN
Tickets $10.00
Roy Book Binder was introduced to the blues and learned to play the guitar while serving in the Navy, but it was after his discharge that he heard a Rev. Gary Davis song at a folk center in New York City and was hooked. "It tickled my ear," says Book Binder. "I didn't realize it would ruin my life." He was so intrigued with Davis' style that in 1967 he sought Davis out, and Davis agreed to teach Book Binder some of his guitar secrets for $5. Soon Book Binder was Davis' chauffeur and on the road with him, soaking up the finer points of his Piedmont style of acoustic blues.
By 1970 Book Binder had recorded his first album, Travelin' Man, and was touring regularly, opening for the likes of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee and racking up impressive reviews. Six more albums and many coffeehouses, festivals, and small clubs fill in the next twenty-something years, all of which culminate in his 1998 album, Polk City Ramble. In this collection of both old and new songs, Book Binder has perfected his blues style in his own versions of songs by Blind Blake, Rev. Gary Davis, and Billy Joe Shaver, and has written seven originals treating current themes in traditional blues settings. In concert, Book Binder's stories are as entertaining as his music. Sing Out says, "His live show is like a great old movie -- not modern, but a hell of a lot better entertainment than most things on the concert scene."
Jack Hardy Another Web Site
8:00 PM, Saturday, Sept 14, 2002 Otherlands Coffee Bar, 641 South Cooper, Memphis TN
Tickets $10.00
To say that Jack Hardy is a master songwriter is an understatement,
but don't be embarrassed if you've never heard of him. Hardy himself says
that he may be the least famous singer with a boxed set. The boxed set in
question, a 10-CD compilation released in 1998, covers 30 years of work from
1965-1995. Still, Hardy is more known for the songwriters that he has
mentored than for his own work. Such artists as Shawn Colvin, Lyle Lovett,
Tracy Chapman, Suzanne Vega, and Nanci Griffith honed their craft in Hardy's
weekly songwriting workshops held in his New York apartment.
Hardy began writing songs at 14. Early influences were the Kingston Trio and the Everly Brothers, progressing ultimately to Dylan, Hank Williams, and Jimmie Rodgers. But in his quest for poetic language and how it affects the subconscious, he went beyond popular singer-songwriters to the works of William Butler Yeats who, he says, "saved [him] from terminal Dylanitis." He has dug so deeply that many of his original songs are mistaken for traditional Celtic airs. Hardy focuses on the song rather than the singer, and therein lies the key to his obscurity. "My whole focus is on writing," he says. "I only play gigs when people call me…. My true success as an artist will be revealed if, hundreds of years from now, people are singing my songs without knowing who wrote them."
Jesse Winchester
Sunday, Sept 8 at 7:30 pm at the Hohenberg Auditorium in the Memphis Brooks Museum.
Tickets $15.00
Memphis music lovers over 40 will remember Jesse Winchester's triumphant homecoming in 1977. President Jimmy Carter had pardoned those who fled the country to avoid the draft, thus ending Winchester's 10-year Canadian exile. Since 1967 he had lived in Quebec, where he started writing songs and singing in clubs. Robbie Robertson of the Band became interested in Winchester's career and helped him land a record deal with the Bearsville label. Thus followed a series of albums, highlighted by Nothing But a Breeze, released in 1977 as Winchester came home to Memphis. After the 1988 release of Humour Me, Winchester retreated from the spotlight, taking an 11-year hiatus from recording to concentrate on writing songs for others, including Reba McEntire, Wynonna, and Emmylou Harris. His 1999 return to the studio, Gentleman of Leisure, proved that he hadn't lost his touch.
Winchester's exile from the South produced his most evocative lyrics: plaintive songs of longing for southern places such as "Biloxi" and "Bowling Green"; songs about leaving people and places you love, like "The Brand New Tennessee Waltz"; and a song about simply missing the sound of southern accents, "Talk Memphis."
Winchester continues to live in Quebec while many of his musical influences originate right here in Memphis. As he puts it in "Nothing But a Breeze," "Me, I want to live with my feet in Dixie / And my head in the cool blue North." Don't miss this rare treat as Jesse Winchester puts his feet in Dixie one more time.
This concert is co-sponsored by the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art and is underwritten by Archer Records. The concert will be recorded by the Beale Street Caravan and broadcast to more than 500 radio stations worldwide.
Click The Archer Logo to Go To The Click The Brooks Logo To Go To The
Archer Web Site Brooks Museum Web Site.
Sid Selvidge
8:00 PM, Saturday, Aug 24, 2002 Otherlands Coffee Bar, 641 South Cooper, Memphis TN
Tickets $12.00
Memphians who love music love Sid Selvidge. An acoustic artist in the blues, gospel, and folk traditions, his unmistakable tenor voice has been heard from the stage for more than thirty years. Although best known and loved for his solo performances, Selvidge was also part of Mud Boy and the Neutrons in the 70s, along with Jim Dickinson, Jim Crosthwait, and Lee Baker. In 1992, he performed at Carnegie Hall with his son Steve in a program entitled “The Family Tradition.” In 1993, he released his 6th CD, Twice-Told Tales, as part of Elektra/Nonesuch Records’ American Explorer series. Rave reviews followed. Sing Out! wrote, “Selvidge achieves a powerful intensity that is downright scary.” Guitar Player said, “ His rhythmic fingerpicking and emotional slide playing dance around his soulful voice.” All of these well-hewn words simply echo what Memphians already knew — Sid Selvidge is a Memphis treasure. He passes on to us the Delta blues traditions and musical craft that he learned straight from the masters: Furry Lewis, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Mississippi John Hurt. After paying those early dues, Selvidge is a bit more comfortable now as senior producer of the syndicated radio show, Beale Street Caravan, and his performances are not as frequent as they once were — all the more reason not to miss this one!
BILL MIZE
Saturday, July 27, 2002, Otherlands Coffee Bar, 641 S. Cooper.
Tickets are $10, available at Otherlands and Davis-Kidd Bookseller.
Fingerstyle guitar virtuoso Bill Mize, who lives in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, brings his art to Memphis, TN, and he even claims some Memphis influences. Early inspirations, according to Mize, were Steve Cropper and Lonnie Mack. Mize picked up the guitar at about age 10. His first electric guitar gigs gave way to flat-picking in the early 1980s, which later led to his present fingerstyle acoustic. In 1985, Mize won the National Fingerstyle Guitar Championship. Critics today compare him to acoustic masters John Fahey and Leo Kottke. Mize has four CDs to his credit, including Joyful Noise, his 2002 release. Flawless execution and beautifully communicated emotion characterize Mize’s performances. He offers surprising interpretations of old standards as well as his own compositions. According to Dale Miller of Acoustic Guitar Magazine, “Mize’s tone is lovely and his technique is state-of-the-art. He combines form and substance to create music so sublime and accessible I was almost sighing out loud.” Mize’s own assessment of his music is a bit more practical: “I feel pretty blessed to be doing my own thing for the last twenty years,” he says, “—and getting away with it.”
DAVID MASSENGILL
Saturday, June 22, 2002, Otherlands Coffee Bar, 641 S. Cooper.
Tickets are $10, available at Otherlands and Davis-Kidd Bookseller.
Growing up in Bristol, Tennessee at the opposite corner of our state, David Massengill was as far from Memphis as you can get and still be in Tennessee. Still, when you hear his songs, you’ll feel a certain familiar atmosphere and hear the ring of truth. Massengill left Tennessee and paid his dues on the streets of Greenwich Village in the late 70s, the same as others before him. And like the songs of the 60s troubadours, his early works tackled the themes of social and political injustice. However, he says, “I discovered it is easier to improve the past than it is to improve the future.” As a result of his shifting focus, Massengill’s latest CD, My Home Must Be a Special Place (2002), tells of hometown memories and family lore, “back before we all got to be so mad at each other.” Universal themes are still there, waiting to be discovered among the imagery and the details. Accompanying himself on Appalachian dulcimer, Massengill is magnetic on stage. His virtuosity on the instrument is as delightful as the beauty and universality of his songs. Massengill says it took him 50 years to discover his purpose as an artist. It’ll take you only one night to discover the greatness of his talent.
WATERSON: CARTHY
4:00 PM Sunday, April 28, Outdoor Concert at Cordova Cellars, 9050 Macon Road, Cordova
From the intersection of Germantowntown Parkway and Macon, drive east on Macon until you come to Cordova Cellars, on the left, just before a sharp right turn.
Click Here For a Map To Cordova Cellars
We regret that we can sell no more than 75 tickets, JUST IN CASE, we need to move the concert indoors because of the weather. We will watch the weather forecast closely and if no rain is forecast, then we will offer unlimited tickets beginning on Friday April 26th. If the weather is good and you have not bought a ticket, there will be plenty of room, so come on out !! Bring picnics and lawn chairs or blankets and spend a lovely spring afternoon on the lawn at Cordova Cellars listening to the First Family of British Folk Music. Cordova Cellars will be selling wine at the concert, so please leave your alcoholic beverages at home.
MAMA is proud to bring the first family of British folk music to Memphis. Martin Carthy, Norma Waterson, Liza Carthy, and Tim Van Eyken will be visiting us at Cordova Cellars on the 28th of April, and at twelve bucks a pop, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Their collective influence on the British folk scene and from there, on the world¹s popular music, is so broad and so deep as to be immeasurable.
Think of Martin Carthy as a template, from whom our image of the folksinger/ scholar is largely derived: it is his version of "Scarborough Fair" that Paul Simon sings; his version of "Lord Franklin" that was transmogrified into "Bob Dylan¹s Dream"; his collaborations with fiddler Dave Swarbrick that inspired the folk-rock groups Fairport Convention, Pentangle, Brass Monkey, The Albion Band, and Steeleye Span. A self-deprecating giant, Martin was recently inducted into the Order of the British Empire, in recognition of his lifelong efforts to preserve and extend the folk literature of England.
Norma Waterson, singing with Carthy, her sister and brother in the group The Watersons, has also been a major influence on British music for thirty years. Recently Norma has issued two prizewinning, bestselling solo CDs. Their daughter, Liza, whose Warner Brothers releases have topped the charts both in Britain and the United States, is as much a rocker as a fiddler and ballad scholar.
A word of warning: scholarship, yes; stuffiness, no. Come to Cordova Cellars prepared to have the time of your life.
This concert is generously sponsored by Dr. Nancy Chase, Jerry Conway, Ann Barnes, Laurie Snyder, Larkin and Andy Cohen, Mary Birts, Cordova Cellars and by Yarbrough's Music Store.
Tickets are $12 and will be available at Otherland's Coffee Bar, Davis-Kidd Booksellers, Yarbrough's Music Store and Cordova Cellars.
And, MAMA thanks Ramada Inn Midtown for providing accommodations for the Waterson: Carthy Group.
Ramada Inn - Midtown, 1837 Union Ave at McLean Ave., Memphis, TN 38104, (901) 278-4100, (901) 272-3810 (fax).At Ramada Inn, expect nothing less than our personal best.
VOICES: HEART, SOUL and HEAD
CROW JOHNSON, EMILY KAITZ and DARCIE DEAVILLE
8:00 PM Saturday, April 20, 2002 Otherland's Coffee Bar
Darcie Deaville
Emily Kaitz Crow Johnson
VOICES: HEART, SOUL, and HEAD
Crow Johnson, Emily Kaitz, and Darcie Deaville—back for a return engagement with MAMA. If you saw them in spring of 2000, you’ll certainly return for more. If you missed that show, you have a second chance to experience these three remarkably talented women together on one stage.
Crow Johnson’s story songs cut across a variety of genres: country-folk, soft rock, funky jazz, and bluesy ballads. She’s been performing and writing songs for 38 years, and her experience shows in her complex melodies, rich chord structures, and virtuosity on guitar, banjo, piano, and harmonica. Her awards include the 1993 Spirit of Kerrville Award and the 1995 Kate Wolf Memorial Award. Her performance credits are too long to list. Tom Paxton says, “If Crow is a new experience for you, prepare to fall in love.”
Darcie Deaville’s virtuosity on guitar, fiddle, and mandolin is evident, but it is as a storyteller that she demonstrates her truest power. Her narratives are of survival, from the strong-willed voice of “Who Needs You” to the riveting story of “The Icy Barrel of a Loaded Gun.” She is truly, as her CD and one-woman musical title suggests, a “Tornado in Slo Mo.”
What Deaville brings to the show in dramatic power, Emily Kaitz complements in cleverness. She makes her audiences laugh and think at the same time. Wait till you hear “The Shallow End of the Gene Pool.” Then listen for “The M Word Scares the F Word Out of Me.” And be sure to request “The Day the Bass Players Took Over the World.”
Kaitz says she enjoys relative obscurity, but anyone who knows the Austin music scene is either familiar with or part of her cult following.
Don’t miss Crow Johnson, Darcie Deaville, and Emily Kaitz. At the end of the evening, you’ll be begging for more.
Tickets $12 Available at Davis-Kidd Book Sellers, Otherlands Coffee Bar and Yarbrough's Music store.
MAMA is especially grateful to Karen McCarthy Clifton for generously underwriting this concert.
GERRY O'BEIRNE
Saturday, March l6 at 8 pm. Otherlands Coffee Bar 641 S. Cooper
MAMA welcomes back Irish songwriter, guitarist and singer Gerry O’Beirne.
Gerry is not only a self-taught master of the six- and twelve-string guitar,
he is also a renowned songwriter, taking his influences from old and new
music and poetry.
His first solo album Half Moon Bay received much deserved critical acclaim and features his own compelling performances of his songs, as well as his beautiful instrumental music.The album was chosen as one of the 12 best independent releases of 2000 by Performing Songwriter magazine, which featured him in the May 2000 issue, and Folkworld called it one of the top ten albums of the year, "a masterpiece."
His songs tell of a yearning for home, romantic love, and the spiritual qualities of place. Gerry has called many places home ( he grew up in the West of Ireland and in Ghana, and has lived in England, California, Mexico), but after listening to his music, it is clear that ‘home’ is anywhere he can sit with his twelve string guitar and play.
Gerry O’Beirne has toured around the globe with several bands and artists including Patrick Street, The Sharon Shannon Band, Midnight Well (which featured his unique slide guitar playing), The Waterboys, Andy M Stewart, Martin Hayes, Kevin Burke and Andy Irvine. Many artists, including Mary Black, Cathie Ryan, and Maura O'Connell, have recorded his songs, and he has produced albums for numerous musicians, Kevin Burke, Andy M. Stewart, Anam, Martin O'Connor, Clandestine, and many others. He has performed at the White House, opened for the Grateful Dead, and played electric guitar with Marianne Faithfull.
Don't miss this St. Patrick's Eve concert. "The instrumentals are out of this world---superlative and subtle." Dirty Linen.
Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at Otherlands, Yarbrough's Music Store, and Davis-Kidd Booksellers.
A MAMA WEEKNIGHTER
THE LAST OLD MAN
THURSDAY, FEB 28, 2002 8:30 PM OTHERLANDS COFFEE BAR 641 S COOPER ST $8.00
The Last Old Man is a loose, informal collection of 4 musicians who play mostly West Virginia style tunes on fiddle, banjo, guitar and, yes, Cajun-Appalachian accordion. The guys are working up their first CD and are set to venture into the studio next month. Although each member carries a full repertoire of songs, instrumentals and entertaining stories on his own, the group sound centers around Jim's energetic fiddling style. Judging from the audience reaction at their recent appearance in Berea Kentucky, it's just plain fun to listen to them.
Larry Rader on banjo, Jimmy Costa on fiddle, Andrew Dunlap on guitar and Tracy Schwarz on Cajun/Appalachian button accordion.
LAST CHANCE JUG BAND
Saturday, February 23, 2002, at Otherlands Coffee Bar, 641 South Cooper, Memphis..
David Evans has been performing country blues since l962. Although he is mostly known as a blues scholar with more credentials than Mississippi has mud, his skills as a vocalist and guitarist are astounding, as he learned directly from many of the old-time blues musicians still performing during the l960’s.
With a graduate degree from Harvard, Evans is also author of Big Road Blues , producer of High Water Records, and an ethnomusicologist at the University of Memphis . Since l980, Evans has toured widely in Europe and as a guitar accompanist to Jessie Mae Hemphill, Hammie Nixon, Johnnie Shines and has made solo tours in Europe and in South America.
The Last Chance Jug Band has twice been featured on the nationally syndicated radio program Beale Street Caravan and released Shake That Thing! on the Inside Memphis label in l997. The Jug Band consists of Evans on vocals, guitar and kazoo; Jobie Kilzer on harmonica and jug; Dick Raichelson on piano; Amy Adcock on bass; and Jack Adcock on jug and washboard. Some of the fourteen tracks on Match Box Blues include members of the Last Chance Jug Band.
Match Box Blues is David Evans’ first solo release and is filled with captivating performances sure to stir enthusiasm among blues and folk music fans from Memphis to Mecca. It has been lauded by blues legends Charlie Musselwhite and Fito de la Parra of Canned Heat. This concert will also be a CD release party for Match Box Blues. Don’t miss this evening of authentic Memphis jug band and blues!
Tickets are $10.00 at Otherlands, Yarbrough's Music Store, and Davis Kidd Booksellers. br>
Copyright January 2001, Memphis Acoustic Music Association.
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