From: owner-jinglejangle-digest@smoe.org (jinglejangle-digest) To: jinglejangle-digest@smoe.org Subject: jinglejangle-digest V1 #139 Reply-To: jinglejangle@smoe.org Sender: owner-jinglejangle-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-jinglejangle-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk jinglejangle-digest Monday, July 13 1998 Volume 01 : Number 139 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [MLL] Abra Moore?! [laser72@juno.com (Cheryl A Chastine)] [MLL] MARY LOU!!! [LMJ216@aol.com] [none] ["Kyla L" ] [MLL] ROCKRGRL interview part 1 [Dragon Lady ] [MLL] ROCKRGRL interview part 2 [Rachel Kramer Bussel ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 1 Jul 1998 12:54:36 -0400 From: laser72@juno.com (Cheryl A Chastine) Subject: [MLL] Abra Moore?! No, I do NOT notice a generalized similarity between Abra Moore and Mary Lou. I notice a similarity between Abra Moore and Got No Shadow to the extent of girlie voices and electric pop. But I don't think I've heard anything by Moore that has the raw imperfect beauty and emotional impact of the Mary Lou tracks I love, e.g. "Polaroids" or "Camdentown Rain" or the original "Some Jingle Jangle Morning." Neither do I think Got No Shadow has the defiant sunniness of "Don't Feel Like Crying" or the soulful pull of "Happiness" or the delicacy of "Your Faithful Friend." (When you write about music you start coming up with those lovely descriptive phrases. ) Strangest Places, in my opinion, is no more similar to Got No Shadow than is Lisa Loeb's Firecracker, or the Blake Babies' Sunburn or Dar Williams' The Honesty Room or any other such record, for that matter. Cheryl "i'm a hurricane and my blood flows free from a broken vein" -john strohm _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 12 Jul 1998 23:33:35 EDT From: LMJ216@aol.com Subject: [MLL] MARY LOU!!! I'm going to see Mary Lou for the FIRST TIME EVER on thursday the 16th, i'm sooo excited!!! wish me luck!!! ***Lisa ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 12 Jul 1998 21:11:05 PDT From: "Kyla L" Subject: [none] If anyone is close to Seattle, there's a show at the Breakroom on Aug. 28th or 29th. Unfortunately for me, it's 21 and up which sucks. Does anyone know if Mary Lou is doing Bumbershoot this year (over Labor Day weekend)? She did it last year and since she'll be in the neighboorhood around that time... I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Also- did anyone catch the rebroadcast of KCMU's Live Room with Mary Lou on the 4th of July? I never heard it the first time but it was neat to hear because it's a couple of years old. Some of those songs have come along way! - -kyla "You've got me so afraid of sleeping, for fear that I might dream of you" ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1998 01:57:05 -0400 (EDT) From: Dragon Lady Subject: [MLL] ROCKRGRL interview part 1 ROCKRGRL, #21, p. 9 Street Smarts by Rick Friel Every now and then I pass a street musician, and if I like what I hear, I stop to listen, drop a buck in their case, and leave feeling uplifted. Sometimes I walk away wondering why that person isn't signed. It's not often that a busker is seen, let alone dragged through the parallel universe of a major record label bidding war. But Mary Lou Lord's story is unique. From singing into a boom box in her kitchen in Salem, Massachusetts, through her exhilarating years on Kill Rock Stars to her eventual major label deal with Work/Sony, Mary Lou has never stopped playing on the street. her commitment is unquestionable, her performances inspiring. She sings for everyone, transforming the notion of who or what a professional musician should look like. Recently, Mary Lou Lord released Got No Shadow, her first album for Sony, and I had the opportunity to discuss the evolution from street performer to major label artist with her. Is this the kind of record you wanted to make? Yeah, a little bit more timeless. I didn't want it to be sonically screaming 1997*. I didn't want to have techno beats or the rest of the crap. I just wanted it to be simple and something I wouldn't be embarrassed by five years from now. I remember Slim Moon (of Kill Rock Stars) saying the kind of record you wanted to make he couldn't afford. Is this the record you've always wanted to do? It's one of the things I always wanted to do. I have this huge loan form this record company in which to do it, and I figure I might never get this big loan again, so why not take advantage of it. You can always go back to 4-tracking later. But I figure I will not get this chance or this much money again. You don't know. No, I wouldn't. If I didn't make the big record that did well, why would they give me more money? So, I had to do it. Then, maybe later, when they come up for the second option, I won't want it. Have you ever thought about recording on the street in front of people? Yeah. That's what we were going to do with that Kill Rock Stars EP (Mary Lou Lord). Slim wanted a record of me playing in the subway, on the street, and he wanted to record it, subway to the street. I begged him to let me record "Lights Are Changing" with a band, and he let me. A lot of people really liked it. It got played on the radio, and radio is kind of funny, you know? They want a sound that is a little bit of a clone to what is going on in their programming. I wanted it to get a shot at radio, and they played it. So I figured I'd trick them like the rest of the people do. But the rest wasn't filler, it was just acoustic. Are you one of the only people on a major label that is a busker/ It seems unusual to start that way and end up with a major label deal. Yeah. I was really hard-core, too. But Patti Rothberg did it, and Ted Hawkins did it. Bob Dylan, Sting, and Rod Stewart did it, too. * I had accidentally typed "1887" there - that would certainly be interesting, huh? :) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1998 01:57:19 -0400 (EDT) From: Rachel Kramer Bussel Subject: [MLL] ROCKRGRL interview part 2 You seem more comfortable playing for strangers than playing for your record label or the industry. I've seen you in all three situations and you seem to be most comfortable playing for strangers passing by. Well, when you're signed to a major label, ninety-nine percent of it is bullshit. A radio station might say they like me, because they want Fiona Apple to play at something else. A lot of it is real, but a lot of it is all this kiss-ass leverage shit. When I play in the subway, I share the moment with the person coming down. This forty-five-year-old nun comes up and says, "You sound lovely." "You have a beautiful voice." "Thank you, you just made my day." Or a woman and her kid coming back from the circus don't know what label I'm on. They don't have to be saying that. That's real. That's my absolute reality that no one will ever be able to take away from me. I don't need a major label to get that kind of feeling and purpose. You probably didn't think about this before. Oh, no, I did think about it. I know how the game is played. I've been telling people about (Oscar-nominated songwriter) Elliott Smith, and they just don't get it. A few people I know passed on him, and now they're going to come around and kiss his ass. They are the same people that passed on him. Two years ago I played at the Troubadour (a club in Hollywood). Everybody and his brother was looking over their shoulders. Everybody and his brother wanted to sign me. Two weeks later I was playing on the street at SXSW, and the same dipshits that were at the Troubadour walked right by. There's nothing like that kind of reality to me, and it keeps me grounded. Do you still love what you do? I love it more now. I got really lonely travelling around back and forth, Boston, Seattle, couches, meeting people, getting drunk and running around. There was just me, and it was a lot cheaper than a band, so it kept me going. And when you don't have a record you have to be there. So I always made sure I was there. Now I've got these guys from my hometown in Salem. These guys are exactly the band I would have had when I was sixteen. What kept you going when you were starting out? Nothing, really. I just didn't know how to do anything else. I was in love with other people's songs, and I knew that the people I was playing them for had never heard them. Instead of walking around with a turntable, I could pay it myself> I as doing Shawn Colvin way before she got a record deal. I deemed it my mission in life to turn the world on to Shawn Covlin, so I stood in the subway for four years playing nothing but Shawn Colvin songs. When she got a record deal I thought, "I guess she doesn't need me any more." Rick Friel interviewed Susanna Hoffs for ROCKRGRL issue #19. Send comments to rick@rockrgrl.com Mary Lou's Gear: Takamine acoustic guitar ("It's a work horse.") 1953 Martin D-18 acoustic guitar ("It's like an old, grumpy grandpa. I keep it mostly under the bed.") Maxi Mouse amp and Die-Hard battery (for playing on the street) Trace-Elliot acoustic amp ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 12 Jul 1998 22:40:16 From: Darren Subject: [MLL] She Had You I was wondering what (those who've heard it) think of the remixed version of She Had You that's been released to radio? I like it. But, I also like the album version... So, I'm torn. Peace, Darren . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . http://www.spiritone.com/~darren/delamitr.htm "It's hard to say you love someone And it's hard to say you don't." - Justin Currie (from "Driving With The Brakes On") ------------------------------ End of jinglejangle-digest V1 #139 **********************************