FolkLife is this weekend; the free, local, and original Memorial Day outdoor music festival. An alternative to Sasquatch, FolkLife is getting hipper nowadays with the addition of the Indie Roots Stage (under the Space Needle on Broad St) and cool film showcases screening in the SIFF Film Center off Mercer St.
American Standard Time's short docs (or, as I call them, "artist portraits") are beautiful collaborations with our friends More Dust Than Digital which will screen Saturday at 6pm in the SIFF Film Center (off Mercer St). If you haven't seen our pieces on Blind Boy Paxton (pictured), Frank Fairfield, Alela Diane, or the animation of Harry Smith by genuis Drew Christie on the big screen, then this is your chance.
And we have our own music showcase too! Check us Saturday, 1-4pm on the Indie Roots Stage where I'll be presenting fav bands like Denver, Lonesome Shack, Shelby Earl, and Kevin Barrans (of Maldives). The whole schedule is here
*Note: There's only a few days left to check this show, but you jump to the KEXP archive and hear the entire in-studio performance. The link is below)
One of the brightest young talents to emerge in Cajun, Creole and Zydeco (Louisiana French) music over the last decade, Cedric Watson is a four-time Grammy-nominated fiddler, singer, accordionist & songwriter with seemingly unlimited potential.
Cedric was in town (awhile ago, now...) and popped in The Roadhouse and played four songs and talked crazy knowledge about his experience playing French music, his fondness for his band (some real characters!), and the deep ancestral ties of the Creole community in rural Louisiana and East Texas with his trademark wit and charm. This guy's a real treat!
Originally from San Felipe, TX (population 868), Cedric made his first appearance at the age of 19 at the Zydeco Jam at The Big Easy in Houston, TX. Just two years later, he moved to south Louisiana, quickly immersing himself in French music and language. Over the next several years, Cedric performed French music in 17 countries and on 7 full-length albums with various groups, including the Pine Leaf Boys, Corey Ledet, Les Amis Creole with Ed Poullard and J.B. Adams, and with his own group, Bijou Creole.
You can jump to the entire session (there's expiration) from the KEXP Live Performance page, now.
While Cedric was in town, we also coaxed him into a field tip (he was game!) to Magnuson Park (where the above two pictures were taken) and we filmed him playing and goofing about. The result will be a future American Standard Time "artist portrait" to be seen on these very pages! So, stayed tuned for that!
Also on this show (again, the link is only good for a few more days) there's more "Louisiana Rock", soul-rock, stoner-rock, a little roots-rock, some "harp and soul", and of course creole-soul. There is however, no "Rawk!" or any Acid types of rock, or metal.
The show starts off with Lightnin' Hopkins (the coolest cat, ever?) doing "Uncle Stan, The Hip Hit Record Man" and then grooves straight to a highway called "Sweet 94", a "Crossroads" (not that one!), before venturing toward "Motor City" by Neil Young.
New music from Father John Misty, Dr John, First Aid Kit, Doug Paisley, Hurray For The Riff Raff, River Giant, Alabama Shakes, and The White Buffalo.
DJ Comments: Originally released in 1972, two years after he passed away. Some live footage of the man playing "Walking the Floor Over You" and "Off the Hook": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szya2It2MqY
We all have secrets, our dirty little secrets, things we tell no one, things we bury that we hope will never surface. I have a few. I never told my parents I didn’t make it home on my high school graduation night because quite frankly I didn’t remember my graduation night. My parents reciprocated in kind by never telling me they really didn’t take our beloved Siberian Husky, Einook, to a new life on a farm (he went to the vet - need I say more.)
Bill Haley had a dirty little secret, he could yodel. Not only could he yodel but he did it so well that back in the 1940’s he became the Indiana State yodeling champion. Bill had a future in yodel, but he threw it all away on the new craze of the day rock and roll. Don’t believe me? I present proof, a picture of Bill with his Four Aces of Western Swing and a yodel to die for, “Yodel Your Blues Away” that Bill recorded in 1949 with the Four Aces for Cowboy Records (Cowboy 1203).
If only….no I won’t go there, Rock and Roll didn’t kill Bill, nor could the yodel necessarily have saved him. “What if’s” do us no good.
How do you feel about yodeling? Is it a transcendent art form that can lift body spirit and mind to new levels of consciousness or is simply a way God stuck it to the Swiss? Leave a comment; let us know. Who knows with enough positive comments maybe we can browbeat Greg into doing a yodeling extravaganza on one of his Roadhouse Radio shows.
Me? I wake up every morning to a strong cup of coffee, a bowl of Frosted Flakes and a good yodel. The day would not be complete without one. Yodeleeeoooo!!
This show is chalk-full of hotness and rooty goodness!
Besides the new & old country, folk, and American rock and soul, this radio program includes two, totally live in-studio performances! All in all, you can call this a Northwest FolkLife preview show. Listen to the whole thing now with the link provided below (at the very end). Then SPREAD IT!
Denver (jump directly and listen to their full performance via KEXP Live Performance page)
photo by Victoria VanBruinisse
Denver is a new favorite band that has been getting plenty of spins on the show from their unofficial, self-titled release that was passed to me last year. I liked it so much, that it appeared on my 2011 Top 10 Albums Of The Year, even tho it really hasn't been released yet. The recording, that features Tom Bevtori (Alela Diane), Mike Elias, Birger Olsen, and Eric Early (Blitzen Trapper), is pretty much staight inour wheelhouse and I tease the band whenever possible about being a PDX super-group.
Denver is playing the American Standard Time Showcase Stage during FolkLife on Memorial Day Weekend (Sat May 26th, 3pm) and in this KEXP performance they admit to not playing outside of Portland very often due to their working-class lifstyles (Like!). They also clear-up many things regarding their band name, why John Denver album covers pop-up on iTunes, the participation of the "Trapper Boys", and how they are definitely a country band.
photo by Victoria VanBruinisse
Denver plays 4 songs (including "Hot Denver #2"!) from their debut album (released officially in June), and if you're like me, you'll love the harmony, tight arrangements, and their generally loose, gritty bad-assness! Plus their super cool dudes too. Look for big things from these guys and plenty more spins in The Roadhouse!
Shelby Earle (jump directly to the KEXP Live Performance of this session to listen immediately)
photo by Victoria VanBruinisse
Shelby Earl is a local artist who captured the attention of many rootsy types with an album called Burn The Boats last year. We finally caught on in The Roadhouse and invited Shelby to play some of those songs, plus a brand new on this show. She obliged.
What's immediately evident is her voice. Emotive and lovely, Shelby is a songwriter who starts with words first, then builds a structure that's somewhere between Americanan and pop, resulting in a new talent to be reckoned with. She plays four songs and explains to me how I really haven't missed the boat. Thanks Shelby.
On the rest of this show, there's more FolkLife performers and other indie-roots stars like White Buffalo, Father John Misty, Megafaun, Jeremy Burke, Big Sur, Shovels & Rope, First Aide Kit, Dug Paisley, The Beautiful Sunsets, Amos Lee, Todd Snider, Quiet Life, Dr John & Dan Auerbach, Nick Waterhouse, JD McPherson, some dude named Jack White (up and comer!), Gold Leaves, and River Giant. Old shit too, like Gene Clark, Sir Doug, Neil Young & The International Harvesters, and Gram Parsons
It's Kentucky Derby time! And what better way to celebrate the day – other than with big, floppy hats, bourbon and buckets full of Mint Juleps – than to whisper about horses… or lovely ladies… or the south.
There is a quaint Cajun town in Louisiana known as Breaux Bridge where Saturday mornings rise with Zydeco brunch at Café des Amis, afternoons equal antique shopping or kayaking along the Vermilion and the first weekend in May means gathering with the community during the town's beloved and world-renowned Crawfish Festival (happening right now!!). Breaux Bridge is also the home of filmmaker, teacher and philosophy scholar Conni Castille.
Born of a culture where family is key and tradition runs deep, Conni rebelled, just as most young people do, searching out new ways of life, a chance to find herself and reach for a new, "better" way of living. During her travels, she discovered a deeper love and passion for her roots, which brings her to the incredible contributions she's now offering her community and the world: an inside view into the everyday traditions imperative to Louisiana culture and how they're transitioning with the times.
Broaching subjects from ironing to plate lunches to the plight of the state's beloved crustacean, Conni, along with cinematographer Allison Bohl, have graced the screen with documentaries including I Always Do My Collars First, Raised on Rice and Gravy and King Crawfish. Music contributors include the talents of Dirk Powell, Kristi Guillory, Anya Burgess, and more.
This brings us to her latest release. T-Galop: A Louisiana Horse Story runs through accounts from Louisiana's traditional Creole cowboys to Kentucky Derby winner and Louisiana-native Calvin Borel. As with her previous films, T-Galop blends the customs, foods, music and blood of the Louisiana people, informing and reminding viewers of what the state and culture encompass while also questioning the directions these customs are heading.
If you're in the Lafayette, Louisiana neighborhood May 13, head to Acadiana Center for the Arts at 6pm for a screening of T-Galop plus a Q&A after with Ms. Conni.
T-Galop: A Louisiana Horse Story:
"Creole cowboys, Cajun jockeys, Cotton Knights and Mardi Gras revelers reveal the long history and blend between Creoles and Cajuns and the horses they love. 'This equine love affair began more than 250 years ago on the first ranches of South Louisiana where Creoles became some of American’s first cowboys,' explains Castille. 'The Creole and Cajun idea of `passing a good time’ of course made its way into their horse culture, like the old bush track racing that birthed so many great jockeys, or the Mardi Gras horseback riders, or the leisurely Creole trail rides,' says Castille. T-Galop romps playfully across South Louisiana through professional sports to community rituals bearing witness to a modern horse culture that was born many centuries ago." - Arts & Humanities Council of SWLA
So after the Kentucky Derby, after the Crawfish Festival in Breaux Bridge and after checking out Conni's fabulous film about Louisiana horse culture, gallop, don't trot, to check out her other great documentaries. A star is born, bred and shining brightly in Southwest Louisiana.
I Always Do My Collars First:
"A documentary that delivers an artful and unexpectedly entertaining look at what is often ignoredas a mundane chore. The story follows four dynamic Cajun women in French Louisiana as they go about their daily lives demonstrating how the simple ritual of ironing weaves its way throughout the fabric of family life and their sense of identity." - Film Baby
Raised on Rice and Gravy:
"This documentary … is a celebration of a daily dining tradition in South Louisiana: the plate lunch house. Filmed in and around Lafayette, Raised on Rice and Gravy offers a local’s look at the kind of authentic Cajun and Creole cuisine that Acadiana natives serve themselves, not the tourists: chicken stew, smothered potatoes, and stuffed turkey wings. But the film also captures the communal nature of these plate lunch houses, where cooks and customers are able to talk face to face across the serving line." - New Orleans Film Society
King Crawfish:
"In King Crawfish the Cajun spirit gets poured out on a communal table, even as the wild harvest is diminishing. At the [Breaux Bridge Crawfish] Festival, everything Cajuns value takes to the stage — their language, their music, their food, their dance, and their crawfish. Thousands of pounds of crawfish get served up at the festival, much of it coming from their natural habitat, the Atchafalaya Basin. But, as the film traces the crustacean from festival to Basin, it finds fishermen fighting to retain their way of life in one small fishing community." - Tim Landry, The Porch
Friday, May 25, 2012 at 11:15AM 
