From: owner-mad-mission-digest@smoe.org (mad-mission-digest) To: mad-mission-digest@smoe.org Subject: mad-mission-digest V2 #248 Reply-To: mad-mission@smoe.org Sender: owner-mad-mission-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-mad-mission-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk * If you ever wish to unsubscribe, send an email to * mad-mission-digest-request@smoe.org * with ONLY the word unsubscribe in the body of the email * . * For the latest information on Patty's tour dates, go to: * http://www.spectra.net/~ducksoup/pattyg/patttyg.htm * OR * go to http://www.amrecords.com * then click "tour" and fill in the blanks :) * . * PLEASE :) when you reply to this digest to send a post TO the list, * change the subject to reflect what your post is about. A subject * of Re: mad-mission-digest V2 #xxx or the like gives readers no clue * as to what your message is about. mad-mission-digest Monday, August 24 1998 Volume 02 : Number 248 Today's Subjects: ----------------- MM: Interview Zine [LeShawnte@aol.com] MM: Mama Kin Gig [David Lewis ] Re: MM: Patty Review in New York Times [Linus Gelber ] MM: Small fish in a big pond? [Rongrittz@aol.com] MM: Patty in Interview [LeShawnte@aol.com] Re: MM: The "Labour Day" part of Labour Day Weekend... [dana Subject: MM: Mama Kin Gig Hey All, 1,000 KMs later and I'm back in Halifax safe and sound :) Just so you all don't think I'm *completely* insane, I did take the opportunity to visit some other people and places both along the way and while in Boston. Anyway... back to work on Monday :/ So... about the show. What can I say. It was great. I loved the whole show, but a few tunes really stuck out. Wiggly Fingers was unreal... intense. The CD version of "Wiggly" is sexy, and rockin' but seeing and hearing it live intensifies those qualities by an order of magnatude!!!!!! You would think that after so many years of being on stage with a guitar in her hands, Patty would feel awkward without it, but such is not the case. Patty is really into it when she does that song. She's singing and dancing like a wild woman :) It's great! :) That song should *absolutely* be a single! Another tune that I found particuarly memorable was Mary. It was downright spellbinding. Tony also blew me away. Patty's intensity and empathy toward Tony leave me shaken. Hearing this song live is very powerful... even disturbing. That's a compliment by the way. And of course, the solo set was a really nice treat! About the volume. Patty was the headliner, so I assume they had the sound set the way they wanted it. The problem is not so much volume I think as it is the mixing and, occasionally, distortion. There was one tune, I can't remember which, where Patty's voice was coming out of the sound system with some pretty bad distortion. The speakers were sqauking and cracking enough that I actually felt physical pain in my ears a few times. Granted, Patty has such an awesome dynamic range that it must be hell to set her levels. I don't envy the poor sound guy :) Also, I was about 4 feet from the front of the stage (and hence also the speakers.) Nevertheless, I think distortion is the main problem. I've been to louder shows that didn't bother me because the sound was clear. I saw Fugazzi a few weeks ago and it was so loud that you could feel your whole chest cavity reverberating. I mean you could *really* feel it... to the extent that one might be worried about the well-being of one's internal organs :) But the sound itself was crystal clear. Also, Patty's band as a whole was a bit too high in the mix. They often overpower Patty's stunning voice. Don't get me wrong, I loved the show and I *really* love the full band thing. All in all it was an awesome show. I was just plain thrilled :) I just think they need a bit of polish on the technical side of things... i.e. sound system, mix, etc. It was a great show though! It's great to see Patty having such a good time with the band too. I don't think she "sold out" at all. I think that Patty is doing exactly what Patty wants to do :) Dave p.s. About the ice cube throwing incident... I don't know who the woman was but it seems to me that she knew Patty. She approached the stage at one other point during the show and was screaming at Patty at the top of her lungs trying to get her attention. I don't know what the deal was with her, but she was being rather loud and obnoxious. Oddly enough, she was hanging around the green room after the show?! Which is why I'm guessing that she and Patty know each other. Whether or not they like each other is another question :) Patty did apparently give her the finger after the ice cube thing. Anyway. Odd. - ------------------------- David Lewis Digital & Print Media Design dlewis@hfx.andara.com - ------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1998 04:30:42 -0400 (EDT) From: Linus Gelber Subject: Re: MM: Patty Review in New York Times On Sat, 22 Aug 1998 CornflkGl@aol.com wrote: > < voice was occasionally drowned out by the band's innocuous din.>> > > in*noc*u*ous (adjective) > [Latin innocuus, from in- + nocere] > 1 : producing no injury : HARMLESS > 2 : not likely to give offense or to arouse strong feelings or hostility : > INOFFENSIVE, INSIPID > > Hmm. A carefully chosen word, I thought. I didn't see this show, and don't even have a copy of FR yet (no time to listen anyway), but I've been following the discussion. When you see a lot of music--and I mean a *lot* of music--funny things happen to the way you perceive it. There's a tremendous difference between a band, by which I mean an ensemble like the Beatles or the Attractions or whomever, and a solo artist who is fronting a bunch of musicians. A band is a group: the songs are developed together, and they spring from a unified source. Think of REM, U2, Ramstein, Radiohead, whatever your big fave is. A solo artist fronting a backup group is totally different. In the best of worlds the backing band is integral to the material; what would Bowie in the Station to Station era have been without Carlos Alomar, what would Elvis Costello have been without those Attractions? For the most part, however, a touring singer/songwriter has a lineup of excellent and well- paid studio musicians. They may be brilliant, but they garnish the material rather than building it from the ground up. And if the record deal goes sour--Patti Rothberg is a fine example of this phenomenon--the band is gone, off to other better-paying gigs. I was at the Bottom Line this week for the Nightbirds showcase series, and saw the rather unremarkable Dana Mace with a full-house pickup band. Joe Bonadio on drums (you can't get better), some other folks I recognize from gigs around town. They were flawless, slick, looking like they'd rehearsed more than twice and in the groove from start to finish. But they weren't a *band*, if you know what I mean. That takes a long time, and it's a growing process. If Patty sticks with the band format, she'll grow a band. These things don't spring full-grown into the world (in most cases). Ann Powers, the Times critic, knew exactly what she was seeing... ...in my rather uneducated opinion. Ciao - Linus Linus Gelber > Home Office Records -- Something Else! linus@panix.com < Please visit us at http://www.web-ho.com boss@web-ho.com > The RAW Kinder EP is here and for sale-- cyrano@nycbeer.org < albums by Pawnshop and The Cucumbers soon! ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1998 16:32:36 EDT From: Rongrittz@aol.com Subject: MM: Small fish in a big pond? I've been doing some thinking, and I can't think of a better place to get some other opinions. Don't get me wrong. I loooove "FR." After just a few short weeks, it's one of my all-time favorite CDs. Which means it (as well as "LWG") join a pretty exclusive club which includes Jackson Browne's "Late for the Sky" and "I'm Alive," Dar Williams' "The Honesty Room," Richard Shindell's "Sparrow's Point," Dire Straits' "Making Movies," Cheryl Wheeler's "Driving Home" and Edward Gerhard's two Christmas CDs. It has barely left my CD player since I got it. The two PG concerts I've seen (one acoustic, one with the band) are among the best shows I've ever seen in my life. But something's bugging me all of a sudden, and it's this: as good as "FR" is . . . and as much as Patty certainly has every right in the world to follow her own muse . . . was this CD the right thing to do right now, career-wise? I guess the thing that prompted this train of thought was that I was listening to "LWG" today . . . the power, the emotion, the rawness of it . . . and all of a sudden I got a bit wistful for what I wish her follow-up could have been. Did she have to go SO far to the other end of the spectrum so soon? I think about what "FR" might have been with even half the production, uh "value," and it makes me long for something that I wish had been just a little bit closer to "LWG, Volume II." I hate to compare artists (ok, I admit it, I love to compare artists - putting musicians in context of their peers helps explain what I'm talking about), but would it not have been smarter to - for the time being, anyway - continue to be a big fish in a small pond (that is, stay a stripped-down-yet-intense folkie, and blow away all the innocuous Sarah McLachlans and Jewels and Lisa Loebs) instead of making a too-soon move into the "bigger leagues" and be just another fish in a pond that already includes the likes of Fiona Apple and Alanis Morrisette and Paula Cole? For what it's worth, at the Bowery Ballroom show last week, the rock stuff was great, but Patty REALLY grabbed us all by the heart when she dismissed the band and played "Poor Man's House," "Mad Mission" and "Forgiveness." And I'm obviously not alone in this opinion. The other day I was reading a wonderfully written review of "FR" which made the following brilliant observation: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Living With Ghosts practically came packaged, like a bonus EP taped to the box, with the story about how A&M signed Patty after hearing her demos, and put her in a studio and made a standard major-label rock record, and then listened to it and realized that the demos were a million times better, and so released them instead; but what on earth is Flaming Red if not exactly the mediocre studio rock album everybody was congratulating themselves about not releasing the first time around? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Well put, eh? And isn't it oh-so-true? If Patty had released "FR" first, wouldn't it have simply gotten lost in the morass of "mediocre studio rock albums" out there (read: Natalie Imbruglia and Meredith Brooks)? And as rock albums go, "FR" is kind of unfocused. From the punkish title track to the softly-jazzy "Go Now." From the country-bop of "Goodbye" to the folkie "Mary." From the grunge of "Wiggley Fingers" to the sweetness of "Peter Pan." Exactly who's she speaking to with this CD? I need to repeat this here, lest I open myself up to flames of "Hmmm, didn't take YOU long to jump off the bandwagon": I love "Flaming Red." But I was *already* a fan of Patty, and for her to be able to go sooooo far in the other direction and keep me as a fan, well, that speaks volumes. But from reading newsgroups and mailing lists and such, it seems like she's lost herself some fans in the process. And many of the reviews (of the CD *and* her live shows) have NOT been favorable. So, that's it. This isn't really a "Do we like our Patty acoustic or electric, solo or with the band?" thread-starter. It's more of a "What's to become of Patty if she attempts to compete in an arena that's much more competitive?" question. Thoughts? Thanks, Ron ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1998 17:54:37 EDT From: LeShawnte@aol.com Subject: MM: Patty in Interview ok ok so people requested.... :) INTERVIEW MAGAZINE Sept 1998 Patty Griffin pg. 84: singer, songwriter, flamethrower MUSIC DISCOVERY Pop's New Flame by Karen Iris TUCKER Patty Griffin deals in dusky murmurs and hypnotic wails, but her real power is in her storytelling. On her sophomore release, "Flaming Red" (A&M), the thirty-four-year-old New England singer-songwriter conjures characters, startling for their pain and complexity, including a sexual repressed preist ("Wiggley Fingers"), and an emotionally bruised woman whose love leaves her ("change"). Think of Griffin as the dark, dissonant chord amid the Lilith Fair contingent, with whom she just finished touring. Through her songs, the acutely shy Griffin writes about quiet desperation with both empathy and grace. "I've been singing since i was little. I grew up the youngest in a family of seven kids, and having to struggle for attention really did a number on my need to express myself," she explains. "Because I'm shy, I had to learn to convey what was inside of me forcefully - and music provided that." When she began recording, Griffin was too reclusive even to collaborate with other musicians. As a result, her first CD, "Living With Ghosts" (1996), while critically hailed, led to the mistaken impression that she was the modern-day Joan Baez. Just as many critics found the stark emotionalism in her songs unnerving, Griffin was taken aback by the reviews: "To me," Griffin says with a laugh, "nothing was more shocking than being called a folksinger." Overcoming her shyness, on Flaming Red, Griffin enlists a bland and melds fiery rock'n'roll with country-folk, jazzy standards, and bright pop like "One Big Love" - a song about risking it all. Griffin's risks have paid off: "One Big Love" is her first big hit. Hope you enjoy Shawnte' "You can have it all - you just have to be willing to give up what you already have." ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Aug 1998 01:18:11 -0400 From: dana Subject: Re: MM: The "Labour Day" part of Labour Day Weekend... kartalst@HUGSE1.HARVARD.EDU wrote: > > Hello Everyone! > > I would like to invite you all to an absolutely wonderful, amazingly fun > event which, in all cheesiness, can be "cross referenced" here...between > the LRTs started by the Jewel List folk andthe living room series, "Tales > >From the Living Room," which I have started in my own humble abode. > > On September 7, 1998, Joy Eden Harrison & Lisa Sanders, two of San Diego's > best & finest, will be singing in my own house in Medford, MA. They have > a sold out show on Cape Cod two days before and a show in Taunton, MA > (email harrisbros@aol.com for info) the day before, and Lisa & Joy are > "rounding out the weekend" at my house! > > Joy Eden Harrison, a singer with one of the silkiest, sultriest, sexxiest > voices I have evre heard, and Lisa Sanders, full of power, passion, and > grace, come from one of the most supportive, beautiful, and friendliest > folk scenes I have ever seen--San Diego. They are "in the bunch" with > Steve Poltz, Gregory Page, Mary Dolan, Randi Driscoll, Elizabeth Hummel, > Cindy Lee Berryhill (who has a gig the following night, 9/8, four miles > down the road from my houes at a cool restaurant/venue called Johnny D's), > and...Jewel. > > Both women will "wow" you with their spunk, style, and just their plain > old love for what they do. Please come out my way for this blessedly > special event! > > The Low-Down... > > What: Tales From the Living Room #2/Living Room Tour Stop > Who: Joy Eden Harrison, Lisa Sanders > When: September 7, around 1-PM-ish...(please do feel free to > come by earlier...) > Where: My house, Medford, MA > Invited: YOU! And bring family & friends... > Admission: suggested minimum donatin of $10 which goes directly to & > gets split equally between the singers > RSVP: Please do!!!! ASAP, in fact... > > ***This will be al alcohol free event...and a no-smoking-inside-the-house > one, too... > > ***Weather pending, this may be an outdoors event. In case of sun and > happy fun good weather, PLEASE bring your lawn chairs &/or blankets to sit > on!! > > ***Please feel free to bring any sorts of food & snacks you wish. Just > keep in mind that my houesmates and I hold a predomenantly vegeterian > household. I will have food-stuffs available...veggies, salad, stuff like > that...probably more along the lines of "tons and tons of munchies"... =) > > ***Anyone coming from great distances? PLEASE contact me...there is some > space for heads to rest on the floors, sofas, and fold-out beds in my > house...first com first serve. And if you are going to sleep over, why > not stay Tuesday night, also? Come support Cindy Lee if possible! Let me > know...please...cuz when the sleeping space runs out, other options will > have to be found... > > ok, that's all for now. thanks for reading... > > many hugs... > > love you all to bits and pieces and then back whole again, > Stephanie > > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * > > Stephanie Maria Kartalopoulos * The Greek Poet Chyck > kartalst@hugse1.harvard.edu > > This is my prayer for you: May the moon protect you with honesty, caring, > and gentility. May the sun guide you with assertive perseverence. May the > stars embrace you, bringing smiles to your faces and songs to your souls. > > And I hear your voice through the darkness-it's music to my ears. -J.Bruce ------------------------------ End of mad-mission-digest V2 #248 *********************************