Friday, July 13, 2007

DAVE CARTER BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE




Celebrate Dave Carter's birthday with Adam Sweeney, Eric McDonald, Beth DeSombre, Ryan FitzSimmons, Dana Price, & Chris Thompson

VENUE: Loring-Greenough House, 12 South Street, Jamaica Plain, MA. 02130 - http://www.lghouse.org/
DATE: Saturday, August 11, 2007. Doors 6:30pm, concert 7:00pm.

TICKETS: $20- reserve by email to notlobmusic@gmail.com




http://www.bethdesombre.com/
http://www.myspace.com/bethdesombre
http://www.adamsweeney.net/
http://www.myspace.com/adamsweeney http://www.jadedmandolin.com/mandolinenator.html
http://www.myspace.com/mandolinisgoodforthebrain
http://www.ryanfitzsimmons.com/
http://www.myspace.com/ryanfitzsimmons
http://www.myspace.com/danaprice
http://www.cmthompson.com/

Each musician will perform three songs, inviting others to join him/her on vocal and instrument accompanyment.

Due to the number of musicians and length required for this concert, doors and showtime are 30 minutes sooner than usual (doors 6:30pm, performance 7:00pm).

This concert has Tracy Grammer's blessing. Tracy will be in Portland that day but has told me she is "pleased there will be a bi-coastal tribute".

--------------------------

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Carter

Dave Carter (August 13, 1952-July 19, 2002) was an American folk singer and songwriter who self-described his style as "post-modern mythic American folk music." He was one half of the duo Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer. The duo were being heralded as the new "voice of modern folk music" in the months before Carter's unexpected death in July 2002.[1] They were ranked as number one on the year-end list for "Top Artists" on the Folk Music Radio Airplay Chart for 2001 and 2002, and their popularity has endured in the years following Carter's death. [2] Joan Baez who went on tour with the duo in 2001 spoke of Carter's songs in the same terms that she once used to promote a young Bob Dylan:
"There is a special gift for writing songs that are available to other people, and Dave's songs are very available to me. It's a kind of genius, you know, and Dylan has the biggest case of it. But I hear it in Dave's songs, too.[1]
Carter's songs were often noted for their poetic imagery, spirituality and storytelling while retaining connection to the country music of his southern American upbringing. Carter's memory has been kept alive by his many admirers, most notably his former partner. Tracy Grammer has continued to introduce previously unrecorded songs and recordings that the duo were working on prior to Carter's death.

Early life and education
Dave Carter was born in Oxnard, California. His father was a mathematician and a petroleum engineer and his mother was a science teacher and a charismatic Christian.[3] Carter was raised in Oklahoma and Texas and would draw on his rural upbringing in many of his songs. He studied classical piano from age 4 to about age 12, when he took up guitar. At 17, he left home to hitchhike around the country, especially the Midwestern United States (Great Plains area). After graduating with degrees in music (cello) and fine arts from the University of Oklahoma, he moved to Portland, Oregon, where he continued his education at Portland State University, earning a degree in mathematics. He began an advanced degree in mathematics, but a personal epiphany led him to realize that this was not to be his field.[4] He went on to study what he called "the psychology of mystical experience" at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in Palo Alto and the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco,[3] and worked as an embedded systems programmer for several years before taking up music full-time in the mid-1990s. Carter was greatly influenced by mythologist Joseph Campbell, who visited his college, and American mystic Carlos Castaneda. He was also influenced by the American landscape, Arthurian mythology, the environment, and transcendental psychology.

Partnership with Tracy Grammer
Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer main article: Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer
Prior to his death, Carter released three albums with Grammer: When I Go (1998); Tanglewood Tree (2000); and Drum Hat Buddha (2001). The duo also re-recorded many of the songs from Snake Handlin' Man, plus two previously unrecorded songs in early 2002. The CD, called Seven is the Number, was released in 2006.

Death and tributes
Carter died of a massive heart attack Friday July 19, 2002 in a hotel room in Hadley, Massachusetts[5] after returning from an early morning run.[6] He and Grammer were slated to play that weekend at the Green River Festival in Greenfield[7] and were booked that summer to play many of the nation's top folk festivals and folk clubs. He was 49. Carter's death came as a great shock to the folk music community. Tracy Grammer gave her account of Carter's final moments in a letter to fans:
"Yesterday, shortly after he went unconscious, he came back for a lucid minute to two to tell me, 'I just died... Baby, I just died...' There was a look of wonder in his eyes, and though I cried and tried to deny it to him, I knew he was right and he was on his way. He stayed with me a minute more but despite my attempts to keep him with me, I could see he was already riding that thin chiffon wave between here and gone. He loved beauty, he was hopelessly drawn to the magic and the light in all things. I figure he saw something he could not resist out of the corner of his eye and flew into it. Despite the fact that every rescue attempt was made by paramedics and hospital staff and the death pronouncement officially came at 12:08 pm Eastern Time, I believe he died in my arms in our favorite hotel, leaving me with those final words. That's the true story I am going to tell."[8]
Many had predicted that the duo was destined for success beyond the typical folk music circles. Jim Olson, president of Carter's record label, Signature Sounds, said, "I always believed it would only take one cover by a major star to unveil his work to the rest of the world; and I was convinced that was going to happen. Somebody was going to open the door for them; and the thing about Dave's music is that once people heard it, they became lifelong fans."[9] Fellow folksinger and journalist Matt Watroba wrote, "It would make sense at this point, to say that Dave Carter was on the verge of something big. The truth, however, is that Dave was something big already. He moved the people lucky enough to know him or his music in a way that has launched an outpouring of tributes, memories and love."[10]
Grammer decided to keep the duo's appointment to play the 2002 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival the following week and a tribute concert was arranged.[11] The tribute included performances by a number of Carter's admirers singing his songs. Highlights included Chris Smither's cover of "Crocodile Man", Mark Erelli singing "Cowboy Singer", a rendition of "Happytown" by The Kennedys, and "Farewell to Saint Dolores" by Eddie From Ohio. Grammer herself opened the show with "The Mountain" and closed with "Gentle Soldier of My Soul". Several artist have since written tributes in Carter's honor (see below) and in 2005 Grammer released Flower of Avalon, including nine previously unrecorded songs by Carter.

Songwriting
Dave Carter's songs have been covered by many others, perhaps most notably by Joan Baez ("The Mountain") and by Lucy Kaplansky ("Cowboy Singer") and Chris Smither ("Crocodile Man"). Tributes to him following his death were written by Tracy Grammer ("The Verdant Mile") and Richard Shindell ("So Says the Whippoorwill"), among others.
One song, "Gentle Arms of Eden", was added to the hymnal in at least one Unitarian Universalist congregation, and also serves as the theme to a documentary on the rebuilding of New York City after 9/11. More of his songs were recorded by Tracy Grammer on her 2005 album Flower of Avalon.

Discography
Snake Handlin' Man, Dave Carter (self-release, 1995)
When I Go, Dave Carter with Tracy Grammer (self-release 1998, Signature Sounds 2002)
Tanglewood Tree, Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer (Signature Sounds, 2000)
Drum Hat Buddha, Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer (Signature Sounds, 2001)
Seven is the Number Dave Carter and Tracy Gammer (Tracy Grammer Music, 2006)

Covers
Songs written by Dave Carter performed by other artists:
Flower of Avalon (Signature Sounds, 2005), Tracy Grammer, includes nine previously unrecorded Dave Carter songs.
"The Mountain", in 2001 concerts, Joan Baez
"The River Where She Sleeps", from A Crooked Line (2001), Darryl Purpose
"Tanglewood Tree", from Clearwater (2002), Chris and Meredith Thompson[12]
"Crocodile Man", from Train Home (Hightone Records, 2003), Chris Smither
"Farewell to St. Dolores", Gambling Eden (2003), Rani Arbo
"Gentle Arms of Eden", from Side of the Road (2003), Ellis Paul and Vance Gilbert
"Walking Away from Caroline, from God's Poet Now, (2003, EP to benefit the Dave Carter Memorial Fund), Erik Balkey
"Cat Eye Willie Claims His Lover", from Sweet Mystery of Life (2004), Full Frontal Folk
"Cowboy Singer", from The Red Thread (Red House Records, 2004), Lucy Kaplansky
"Gentle Soldier of My Soul", from Paintbrush (2004), Diane Zeigler
"The Mountain", LIVE (2004), Chris and Meredith Thompson[12]
"Quickdraw Southpaw's Last Hurrah", from One Horse Town (2005), Jim Henry [13]
"Happytown (It's Alright with Me)" and "Gypsy Rose", from Songs of the Open Road (Appleseed Recordings, 2006), The Kennedys [14]
"When I Go", from Heaven is So High and I'm So Far Down (RiskyDisk, 2006), Pat Wictor
"Gun Metal Eyes", from Liberty Tree (Songs from the Kitchen Table) (2007?), Mission Street Project
"Kate and the Ghost of Lost Love", from Open The Gate (2007) Sense of Wonder

Tributes
Songs written by other artists as tributes to Dave Carter:
"The Verdant Mile", from The Verdant Mile (Tracy Grammer Music, 2004), Tracy Grammer
"Friend of the Coyote", from Kickin' This Stone (2004), Johnsmith [15]
"So Says the Whippoorwill", from Vuelta (Signature Sounds, 2004), Richard Shindell [16]
"God's Poet Now", from God's Poet Now (2003), Erik Balkey
"Tribute", from From the Hazel Tree (written 2002, recorded 2004), written by Catherine Faber, recorded by Echo's Children[17]
"I Shall Not Look Away", from Tiger Tatoo (Waterbug Records, 2002), Andrew Calhoun
"Willow", from Open The Gate (2007) Sense of Wonder

External links
Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer's Official web site
Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer Chords & Lyrics

Sources and notes
^ a b Alarik, Scott, "New songs from old places: Dave Carter, Tracy Grammer, and Joan Baez," Boston Globe September 9, 2001 and reprinted in Deep Community, pgs 196-7, Black Wolf Press, 2003.
"If the voice of modern folk music is changing--and many in the folk biz believe it is--it is going to sound a lot like Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer.
^ Annual Folk Airplay Summaries, Compiled by Richard Gillmann of KBCS from FolkDJ-L playlists.
^ a b Bulla, David, Music Matters Review: "A 'Tanglewood' Music Feast--Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer", 2000.
^ Watroba, Matt, "Sing Out! Spotlight: Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer," Sing Out! Vol 45 # 1, Spring 2001
^ New York Times, (obituary), July 25, 2002
^ Marcel, Joyce, "BABY, I JUST DIED: THE PASSING OF ALAN LOMAX," (obituary for Carter and Alan Lomax who died the same day) The American Reporter Dummerston, Vermont
^ McDonald, Fern, "Green River Festival", at misslana.com July 20, 2002
^ Grammer, Tracy, "Love From Tracy", post at daveandtracy.com, Sunday, July 21, 2002
^ Alarik, Scott, "Dave Carter, 49, folk artist touted as 'major lyrical talent'," Boston Globe, page B7, July 23, 2002
^ Watroba, Matt, "Last Chorus: Dave Carter (1952-2002)," (obituary), Sing Out! Vol. 46 # 3, p. 27, Fall 2002. reprint here
^ Hanson, Jennifer 2002 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, Rambles a cultural arts magazine at rambles.com, August 31, 2002
^ a b Chris and Meredith Thompson official web site
^ Watroba, Matt, "Review: Jim Henry, One Horse Town Six Pack", Sing Out! Vol 50 #2, Summer 2006. reprint here
^ The Kennedys official web site
^ CD reviews at johnsmithmusic.com
^ Review of The Verdant Mile, Rambles Cultural Arts Magazine at rambles.net
^ http://www.echoschildren.org/

Further reading
Music Matters Review on Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer
WJFF Public Radio Interview with Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer, Aired November 20, 1999
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Carter"

Wednesday, July 4, 2007

HOME-STYLE FOLK: Rose Polenzani and Sharon Lewis serve it up at the Loring-Greenough House.

Rose Polenzani and Sharon Lewis, Loring-Greenough House, June 20, 2007

By: MICAH C. BELLIEU
6/25/2007 2:07:05 PM

HOME-STYLE FOLK: Rose Polenzani and Sharon Lewis serve it up at the Loring-Greenough House.

It’s sweaty, there are drinks (as long as you like Sprite), and 40 loyal fans of two singer-songwriters — local favorite Rose Polenzani and the UK’s Sharon Lewis — are in place. This is no club show, however, but the third sellout for the Notlob House Concert music series at the 18th-century Loring-Greenough House in Jamaica Plain. With its low kitchen counters, narrow hallways, and squeaky wooden floors, the Loring-Greenough is far from your typical concert venue. And Jeff Boudreau, Notlob’s de facto MC and booking agent, seems both stressed and first-day-of-kindergarten excited as the evening begins and the crowd stroll into what might at one time have been the house’s “cocktail hour” room. Even before the show begins, you realize how intimate the space is: front row means you can reach out and kick the performer without even standing. You have to sit in the second row to get any perspective.

This is the last gig of Rose and Sharon’s “Kings and Queens” tour, so it’s with sweet sorrow that they greet the crowd. They trade off singing lead, but both stay in the spotlight throughout, with Rose playing guitar and Sharon piano. Rose’s airy yet grounded delivery blends nicely with Sharon’s graceful voice, which takes on something of a Victorian sensibility. The sole amplification comes from the small Crate amp tucked behind the two performers; it enhances the rawness of their folksy storytelling, and the room’s high ceiling creates a warm, natural reverb. For the encore, they snap their way through a song they wrote on the road together. It’s hard to play guitar in a car, they explain.

Boudreau intends to continue booking singer-songwriters in the roots, newgrass, and Americana veins through April of 2008. And beyond that? He givesa big smile: “As long as there are musicians who are interested and fans to support them.” For information about the Notlob House Concerts, visit www.myspace.com/notlobhouseconcerts.

Copyright © 2007 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group