From: owner-jangle-poets-digest@smoe.org (jangle-poets-digest) To: jangle-poets-digest@smoe.org Subject: jangle-poets-digest V8 #30 Reply-To: jangle-poets@smoe.org Sender: owner-jangle-poets-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-jangle-poets-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk jangle-poets-digest Thursday, May 11 2006 Volume 08 : Number 030 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [JP] May 9 1996 - Ten Years After! [Nieldsforever@aol.com] [JP] Ukulele ["Ken Stiffler" ] Re: [JP] Ukulele [Jay Votel ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 9 May 2006 12:55:55 EDT From: Nieldsforever@aol.com Subject: [JP] May 9 1996 - Ten Years After! I first saw the Kennedys 10 years ago today. And wonder of wonders in the case of seeing anyone for the very first time, I still have that setlist! Life Is Large Velvet Glove Heart of Darkness House on Fire St. Mark's Square Same Old Way One Heart, One Soul Wall of Death Chelsea Embankment Pete's scrawl recorded the set list order on the reverse side of a fax cover sheet dated 5/7/96, a date two days before the show. TK played a pair of special Life Is Large shows at the Bottom Line on 5/9/96 with a full band (bass, drums, keyboard, and Pete on electric guitar) in a split bill with the full band Nields. I had heard a lot about TK already prior to this, but I had never seen them. It was just after my one year anniversary of 4/22/95 when I first started following TN religiously. 5/9/96 was one of those Thursday night Bottom Line shows that TN used to play, and since my wife worked till 8PM every Thursday night with me watching the kids, I always drove like the Dickens to make the second show at the Bottom Line on Thursday nights. Bottom Line shows were usually at 7:30 and 10:30, and it took me about 2 and a half hours to make it to Manhattan from Cromwell and find a parking place near Washington Square, which is where the venue was (4th Street). So I was always in panic mode just to make those shows! And if you'll allow the anachronism, I needed a kind of Kennedys "Pick Me Up" after one of the most horrible weeks ever for me, bar none. I was so depressed. It was a "Dark Time." I was in one of those places emotionally where nothing mattered, and what if it did. There was no joy. I forced myself to go to the Bottom Line show that night, one of the most difficult things I've ever had to do, so down in the dumps was I. I did not know that something wholly unexpected lay in wait for me there. Seeing TK that night was nothing less than a revelation for me. TK made life seem worthwhile, worth living again. They shone a light into my darkness. The energy, the songwriting, the professionalism, and the palpable joie de vivre, the elan, the sheer joy of TK caught me completely by surprise. "Surprised by Joy" -- TK came to my "Emotional Rescue"! Imagine my first impression of TK as a rocking full band outfit, alongside the rocking full band Nields! With Pete Kennedy letting it rip and letting it all hang out on electric guitar. I was riveted, fascinated, delighted. As in the case of the first time I ever saw TN when they played the Newport Folk Festival on 8/6/94, the thought occurred to me, although maybe not in the exact words of Lee Raymond -- "That AIN'T folk music!" I thought TK were better than TN the first time I saw them, and I wanted to start following TK starting then. But because of my other commitments, that didn't happen, although I continued to see TK with the Nields and at FRFF for a number of years, and didn't really start following TK closely until much later, about 5 years later, after 4/01 at the Sounding Board in West Hartford when P&M sang Kate Wolf's "Across the Great Divide." But on 5/9/96, I'd wished that I could've started then. I can't say how many times I've seen TK since then. At Fall River, Pete thought it might've been over 100 times. I don't know. But I can't remember for sure if I've ever heard TK do "Heart of Darkness," "House on Fire," or "Same Old Way" since that first time, either! And "One Heart, One Soul" deeply impressed me the very first time I heard it too. "Hush little baby, don't you cry Woman whispers as the rockets go by -- " The juxtaposition of the "hush little baby" with "rockets go by" is one of the most powerful Kennedys images ever. It gives me goosebumps. "There are no countries, only hearts -- " The "vision thing" could hardly be put into words more succinctly. "And even armies couldn't tear us apart -- " This was years before the anthemic "Can't Kill Hope With a Gun." And best of all -- "Ocean to ocean, shore to shore Across all borders, beyond all wars Never forsaken, never alone We'll bring these walls down stone by stone -- " Wow. I get shivers just thinking about those words. But the way this last verse is musically set up by a kind of hush and delay, an extra couple of measures, adds a sense of suspense, a sense of expectancy. Expectancy, like hope itself! And then after this hush there's the return of the rock steady chorus and a soaring lead guitar solo (at the show by Pete, on disc by Nils Lofgren), soaring like a free bird in flight, soaring like hope. The words and the music work together perfectly, like a marriage of true hearts, "One Heart, One Soul." "One Heart, One Heart" as a soaring affirmation of hope has long impressed me as the very essence of Kennedys, as much of a Kennedys anthem as "Life Is Large" or "Stand." The Kennedys are working on a groovy thing, and ever since that day, so long ago at the Bottom Line, the Kennedys groovy thing was something I wanted to be a part of. In the darkest hour of my deepest gloom this message of hope shined a light in my heart that I've never forgotten, like the lone star of hope seen by Sam Gamgee near journey's end in the hopeless glooms of Mordor -- "Beyond all shadows rides the sun And stars forever dwell -- I will not say the day is done Nor bid the stars farewell." Bruce Check out the Kennedys' Official Home Page: http://www.KennedysMusic.com/ Fab photos, the Official tour diary, dashboard Buddha haiku, groovy merchandise...what more could you ask for? ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 10 May 2006 23:25:15 +1200 From: "Ken Stiffler" Subject: [JP] Ukulele Given Pete's recent foray into the ukulele, he might be interested in this article from "Capital Times", a Wellington, New Zealand weekly arts magazine: >> Uke can do it Wellington's ukulele community is coming out of the closet and commuters stopping in to Deluxe for a pre-work coffee on Thursday mornings are getting more than they bargained for. Each week the cafi hosts a public rehearsal by the new Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra, a loose grouping of ukulele enthusiasts and sympathisers including musician Age Pryor, musical comedian Bret McKenzie (Flight of the Conchords) and Frontseat producer Gemma Gracewood. What began last year as a friendly get together organised by Pryor and McKenzie has snowballed - last week ukuleles of all shapes and sizes were being strummed in the petite cafi, while commuters sang along to Kiwi hits from the likes of the Straitjacket Fits and Chris Knox. There were 10 players accompanied by double bass at the start of the session, but two walk ups increased the number to a dozen. Wellington seems to be awash with closet ukulele players. "I've been amazed by how many there are out there. You would not know they are musicians at all, but they have a ukulele," says Pryor. Interest is growing in the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra and the group's even been offered paying gigs, says Pryor. Keep an eye out for them at a bar, or cafi, near you. Captial Publishing Ltd << No doubt about it, WLG remains the arts capital of New Zealand! :) Maybe Pete and Maura could do a tour of New Zealand (we can always dream) and Pete could sit in with the Ukulele Orchestra while they're in WLG? Ken Check out the Kennedys' Official Home Page: http://www.KennedysMusic.com/ Fab photos, the Official tour diary, dashboard Buddha haiku, groovy merchandise...what more could you ask for? ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 10 May 2006 10:19:08 -0400 From: Jay Votel Subject: Re: [JP] Ukulele While we are on this uke thread, the following article excerpt appeared in the Spring '06 Folk News quarterly, published by the World Folk Music Association in Washington, D.C. No one has ever left a concert with Pete and Maura Kennedy without being moved. The couple's upbeat, positive vibe, Maura's limber vocals, Pete's incomparable picking and their jangly songs and harmonies all meld into a conglomerate that can only be described as folk entertainment at its best. After three months touring cross country, the Kennedys returned to their roots at Jammin' Java in Vienna March 17. Though they now call Greenwich Village home, both say they still feel a strong connection to the Washington area, where Pete was reared and where they shared their first decade together as a couple, as well as singing-songwriting team. Plus, there's a host of family and long-time fans in the region, so a chance to see the Kennedys anywhere in Greater Washington is a 21st-century event. Jammin' Java was filled about to capacity for this St. Patrick's Day show. L.A.-turned-D.C.-based songwriter Parthenon Huxley (www.parthenonhuxley.com) opened with a set of well-crafted original acoustic rock songs, complex guitar-based insights true to his muse in Sir Paul McCartney. He drew Canadian Idol 2004 Kalan Porter from the audience to sing a tune they recently co-wrote. It was positively electric. The Kennedys took the stage with their trademark opening song, "Life is Large." Arranged behind them were guitars of every description -- Maura's old Gibson and Pete's latest Gretsch, Pete's 7-string Rickenbacker, his electric sitar, his Phantom high-strung mandoguitar and an Ovation ukulele. Pete would have a chance to play them all. During their cover of the Beatles' "And Your Bird Can Sing," he played the lead phrase on guitar, sitar and uke -- all in the space of a 3-minute pop song. And, when Pete took his customary solo in the middle of the program, he stunned the audience with a memorable version of George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue," flawlessly finger-picked on the ukulele. It was the first time for many in the audience, including your faithful correspondent, to consider the ukulele a serious instrument. Hearing Gershwin on uke was inspiring, comical and breathtaking all at once. Only Pete Kennedy, with his dreamy expression, could pull it off. Other highlights included some of their first forays into collaboration - -- "River of Fallen Stars" -- as well as the pop "Namaste" and bossa nova "9th Street Billy," both from the couple's latest CD, "Half and Million Miles." The concert closed with a Beatles-themed encore sing-along with Parthenon Huxley providing a third-part harmony. Ken Stiffler wrote: >Given Pete's recent foray into the ukulele, he might be interested in >this >article from "Capital Times", a Wellington, New Zealand weekly arts >magazine: > > > > >Uke can do it > >Wellington's ukulele community is coming out of the closet and commuters >stopping in to Deluxe for a pre-work coffee on Thursday mornings are >getting >more than they bargained for. > >Each week the cafi hosts a public rehearsal by the new Wellington >International Ukulele Orchestra, a loose grouping of ukulele enthusiasts >and >sympathisers including musician Age Pryor, musical comedian Bret McKenzie >(Flight of the Conchords) and Frontseat producer Gemma Gracewood. > >What began last year as a friendly get together organised by Pryor and >McKenzie has snowballed - last week ukuleles of all shapes and sizes were >being strummed in the petite cafi, while commuters sang along to Kiwi >hits >from the likes of the Straitjacket Fits and Chris Knox. > >There were 10 players accompanied by double bass at the start of the >session, but two walk ups increased the number to a dozen. Wellington >seems >to be awash with closet ukulele players. > >"I've been amazed by how many there are out there. You would not know >they >are musicians at all, but they have a ukulele," says Pryor. > >Interest is growing in the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra and >the group's even been offered paying gigs, says Pryor. Keep an eye out >for >them at a bar, or cafi, near you. > >Captial Publishing Ltd > ><< > >No doubt about it, WLG remains the arts capital of New Zealand! :) > >Maybe Pete and Maura could do a tour of New Zealand (we can always dream) >and Pete could sit in with the Ukulele Orchestra while they're in WLG? > >Ken > >Check out the Kennedys' Official Home Page: http://www.KennedysMusic.com/ >Fab photos, the Official tour diary, dashboard Buddha haiku, groovy >merchandise...what more could you ask for? Check out the Kennedys' Official Home Page: http://www.KennedysMusic.com/ Fab photos, the Official tour diary, dashboard Buddha haiku, groovy merchandise...what more could you ask for? ------------------------------ End of jangle-poets-digest V8 #30 *********************************