Carolyn Herring | Elusive Real Thing
August 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Caroline Herring digs deep—deep into the rich soil of American roots music for her sound, and deep into the recesses of her own consciousness for her themes. The musically understated, psychologically intense songs of this Atlanta-based Mississippi native ponder the eternal verities while probing the complex nature of contemporary existence; she delivers them in a fine-grained alto replete with the residue of hard-earned insight. On Lantana, her beautiful and eloquent third album (Signature Sounds), Herring fills the listener’s heart with hope one moment and sends a chill down the spine the next. This pivotal album, which documents a personal and artistic crossroads for its author, cements her status as a truth teller, and no matter how bitter or disturbing the story leading to the truth may be, she approaches it clear-eyed and straight-on, getting down to the nub of it with quiet tenacity. No wonder fellow artist Dar Williams, who co-headlined a European tour with Herring in 2006, described her as “the elusive ‘real thing.’”
Laura Duksta | I Love You More
August 21, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Laura enjoys nothing more than sharing her story with others, inspiring them to know that if she can do it so can they. Laura has presented her program, “Self-Esteem through Love: Empowering our Children to Shine” to 1000’s of students, educators and administrators across the country. She is able to sprinkle her story of becoming an author with bits of wisdom that people of any age can use to achieve any dream. She speaks to all types of women’s auxiliary groups, charitable foundations, support groups, etc., at which she shares how her biggest challenge, losing her hair, eventually became her biggest blessing. This helps people see what might be possible when they bring love to what’s being experienced as a challenge or a negative situation. She inspires marketing and sales teams to know that there’s nothing that can’t be accomplished with a plan, a few prayers and a lot of love. And, she of course speaks to aspiring authors and publishers sharing her story of how she went from bartender to best-selling author. She prepares her audience for what might be at times a roller coaster of ride, but certainly one that’s worth it. Laura has spoken for The Learning Annex, The National Alopecia Areata Foundation, The Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, The National Association of Women’s Writers (Florida chapter), Gilda’s Club, Xango New School (network marketing event where she shared the stage with Keynote T. Harv Eker), emceed the South Beach Wine and Food Festival Kidz Kitchen (with Rachel Ray, Alton Brown, Emril and Giatta), as well as having had presented dozens of school visits and author workshops across the country. Laura believes that love is the answer. She sees the world as a classroom where we have chosen to come and grow ourselves to the next level of awareness.. This world is one of duality and when we learn to embrace both the happiness and sadness, the good and bad, the war and peace, the challenge and opportunity, we will no longer be stopped by our circumstances but will be inspired to co-create with our Higher Selves. It is in this state that we are grateful for the events and experiences in our lives because we are able to see how they all serve our own personal growth and add to global evolution. What would happen if we understood that life is happening exactly as it was meant to, so that we may learn lessons of compassion, understanding, wisdom and contribution. If everything “worked” the way that we might envision that it “should” there would be no room for growth. We would no longer have to be here-you might say we would become “enlightened,” when that happens we will have transformed into The Light. This is not to say that we are not working towards transforming and healing our planet, but when we do this from the space that there is something wrong we come from fear and force and things aren’t necessarily transformed they are changed or fixed. Yet, when we can create and come from a place of love we will cause quantum leaps in consciousness. Love has the ability to heal the planet, though it will take a group of committed individuals to create a vision and take action. We are the ones and now is the time!
Dale Ann Bradley | Saturday & Sunday
June 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Bluegrass/Ameri
Mac Morin | Piano Genius
June 20, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Mac Morin, dancer, piano & keyboard player, is a talented Troy, Cape Breton native whose ancestors were noted Cape Breton step dancers for several generations (including Mary C. MacDonald Morin - Mother - and John R.’Roddie Eddie’ MacDonald - Grandfather). Mac has been dancing for over 10 years, first being taught by his mother and then the talented Warner sisters of Mabou, Cape Breton. Since then he has taken on the role as teacher in various private and workshop venues across North America and in Europe. Mac has been playing with Natalie MacMaster again since the summer of 2006 and within that time, has recorded and toured with The Rankin Family, Howie MacDonald, Mary Jane Lamond, Bela Fleck, Ian MacDougall, and members of Beolach. He continues to travel to teach Cape Breton step dancing http://www.macm
Molly Mason | Ashokan Music
June 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Husband and wife duo Jay Ungar and Molly Mason perform some of the greatest songs of ’60s… 1860s that is. They share a mission of unearthing traditional American fiddle and dance gems from Civil war songs to New England contra songs to country swing tunes and bringing them to a new generation of listeners in search of a simpler time. http://www.jaya
Matt MacIsaac | Irish Piper
May 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment
After years competing solo and with pipe bands Matt now enjoys the best of both piping worlds as a professional touring musician In December 2004, Matt released his debut solo recording “Matt MacIsaac - The Piping Album”, and is currently working on his second album which will feature several different instruments, including the Irish high and low whistle, the guitar and banjo. http://nataliem
Don Rigsby | High Lonesome
May 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment
From remote Isonville, Ky., to an international following in Bluegrass music, Don Rigsby has remained true to his mountain roots and made his own marks as a powerful tenor and distinctive mandolin player. Rigsby has released three solo albums. His first, “A Vision,” won the Association of Independent Music’s “gospel album of the year” award and was nominated for an IBMA award. He received the 1999 Bluegrass Now Magazine Fan’s Choice Award for vocal tenor of the year and the 2001 Governor’s Kentucky Star Award. “Empty Old Mailbox,” the title track from his third album, won the 2001 Song of the Year award from SPGBMA. In 2005, Rigsby was awarded two IBMA awards for his role as producer of the Larry Sparks project “40” for Recorded Event of the Year and Album of the Year. He has recorded two albums with Dudley Connell, with plans for a third, and continues to perform and record with Midnight Call and Longview. http://www.donr
Paddy Moloney | Chieftans Legend
May 9, 2008 | Leave a Comment
What an honor to speak to Paddy Moloney of the Chieftans on the show today! Six time Grammy winners, The Chieftains, are now recognised for bringing traditional Irish music to the world’s attention. They have uncovered the wealth of traditional Irish music that has accumulated over the centuries, making the music their own with a style that is as exhilarating as it is definitive. http://www.thec
Kathryn Leigh Kirt Transcript
April 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Dr. Kent: Welcome back to “Sound Authors”. On the fourth part of each show we feature authors of sound. My guest is Kathryn Kirt from Tulsa, Oklahoma. She’s done a CD for children and a CD for adults with her group, “The Good Intentions.”Welcome to the show.
Kathryn Kirt: Thank you so much.
Dr. Kent: How’s the weather down there in Tulsa today?
Kathryn: Well, I’m looking out the window right now and it’s pretty windy, but it’s very pretty. All the flowers are in bloom.
Dr. Kent: Your two CD’s are based on life experiences. You have a baby yourself. I guess that’s the inspiration for “Itty Bitty Ditties For The New Baby?”
Kathryn: That’s right, I wrote all of the songs in her first year of life.
Dr. Kent: And all of these songs are very short so people can learn them and sing them themselves, is that right?
Kathryn: Right, that’s exactly right. I was hoping that parents, grandparents and children would sing those songs to their own babies and I thought that short would help people learn them, no matter what their age.
Dr. Kent: Let’s listen to a little bit of “I Love Milk, Yes I Do.”
Song: I love milk, yes I do, I love milk, yes I do.It’s so sweet and good, and good for you!I love milk, yes I do, I love milk, yes I do.I’d have it all day if I could, and I do!It’s got vitamins and antibodies, its got everything I need.It’s a perfect five star feast for babies.I love milk, yes I do, I love milk, yes I do,It’s so sweet and good, and good for you!I love milk, yes I do, I love milk, yes I do.I’d have it all day if I could, and I do!
Dr. Kent: [laughs] That’s an awesome song. Who’s the little fellow, or lady, doing the interludes?
Kathryn: That is Faith Hart and she, at the time of the recording was six years old, and she is the daughter of my singing partner, Elizabeth Thompson.
Dr. Kent: What a beautiful voice in there. I love the little ditty aspect of this. I don’t think there are many albums out there. There’re all looking at the pop music link of two to three minutes. I love this, its something that…these little tidbits.Tell me a little bit about why you put this into a CD.
Kathryn: Well, my daughter was breast fed, of course, for the first eight months of her life. Most babies only have milk for the first six months and it was such a part of our bonding experience together, as mother and child. Also, I was just amazed; I could both nurture her emotionally and physically by doing this. And that’s all she needed for the first six months. We’re so used to eating all types of food as adults, but I just thought it was amazing that she literally got everything she needed from just milk.
Dr. Kent: And the songs are called things like, “Wake Up, Shake It Up”, “No Cry, No Cry”, “The Rubber Duckie”, “Please, Please, Pretty Please”. Did you find yourself, in this period, walking around and thinking like a little kid?
Kathryn: Well, I did actually, and at the time… let’s see, most of the songs were actually written when I went back to school. I’m a teacher, and though I’m taking a break right now, I was, at the time, teaching English at a high school about 20 minutes away.So that was a perfect length of time after I dropped off my daughter, to work on both the melodies and the lyrics, on the way to work and the way back from work, knowing that I’d see her right away again. So I’d get a little bit in my mind and just keep working on it. I’d also work on them as I walked the dog and my daughter around the neighborhood.
Dr. Kent: What did the neighbors think?
Kathryn: Oh they probably think I’m the crazy lady. [laughter] I’m working on songs all the time.
Dr. Kent: I know you call your group, “The Good Intentions”. Talk about your singing partner.
Kathryn: Well, Elizabeth and I have been singing together now for four years and just this summer we added two new members to our band, Jim Tilley plays mostly the mandolin and Jayula Kirt [sp] plays the keyboard.
Dr. Kent: And you play around Tulsa and the area?
Kathryn: We do! We play as often as we can, we’re all busy professionals in one way or another, or I should say, the three of them are. I’m now a stay at home mom and I have a part time job as the music director at a church. But we try to work around our schedules and play as much as we can. We’ve done the Farmers Market and Cinder One Market more recently and played at The River’s Edge and several other venues in town.
Dr. Kent: Let’s play a song from your album, “Join Hands”, by “The Good Intentions.” This is called “Pools of Sky”Pools of sky line my brick road,And gold leaved trees hang all above me.Faraway moon shines icy cold.I think its time to run away to the sea, to the sea.To a place where light shines unearthly.To a place were sea sand can…
Dr. Kent: Well, it’s been a real pleasure speaking with Kathryn Kirt. You can find her music on cdbaby.com. Look for “The Good Intentions”, her group, and “Itty Bitty Ditties for the New Baby”, by Kathryn Leigh Kurt.Thanks so much for being on the show.
Kathryn: Thank you very much; it was great to be here.
Dr. Kent: And we’ll listen to a little bit more from “The Good Intentions” on the way out here. Thank you so much to my guests, Suzanne Lieurance, Daniel Lee Stone and Tim Keller.We’ll see you next week, but think about Ella Fitzgerald today, that smooth silky voice, and we’ll listen to Kathryn Kirt on the way out.Pools of sky line my brick road, and gold leaved trees hang above me.Faraway moon shines icy cold.
Kathryn Leigh Kirt | Ditties & Tunes
April 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Today on the show, we spoke with musician and mother Kathryn Leigh Kirt, telling us about her CD filled with “ditties,” short enough for any parent to learn to sing, and for any child to learn! She also shared her “adult” music with us… More information about Kathryn Leigh Kirt and her music from her CDBaby site:
Itty Bitty Ditties for the New Baby includes 13 original songs written by Kathryn Leigh Kirt, a singer/songwriter who lives and sings in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The songs are performed by Kathryn with a lot of help from friends and family members. The guitar player is her brother-in-law Nathan Guilford from Oklahoma City. The singers include Kathryn’s father-in-law Bill Morris of Houston, Texas, her neice Siri Peterson from St. Paul, Minnesota, and her singing partner Elizabeth Thompson from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Last but definitely not least is Faith Hart, Elizabeth’s daughter who was six years old at the time of the recording. She masterfully handles all of the speaking parts. The songs were inspired by the experience of being a new mom, and they focus on things that a baby does everyday. New parents will have no problem relating to songs such as “I Love Milk, Yes I Do!” and “Three Wet Wipe Mess.” Some of these songs are easy enough for a toddler to sing, and Kathryn hopes that the whole family will join in and sing to the new baby! Singing can help parents, siblings, and babies feel calm and happy. Now that is a dream come true.
Butch Thompson | After the Monologue
April 11, 2008 | Leave a Comment
It was my pleasure to speak with Butch Thompson on the show today — about playing after Garrison Keillor’s monologue in the early days of Prairie Home Companion, and about his long career in the music industry!More about Butch Thompson from his website:
In a career spanning 40 years, pianist Butch Th ompson has earned a world-wide reputation as a master of ragtime, stride, and classic jazz piano. He spends much of his time on tour in the U.S. and internationally. Although he often travels as a soloist, he also appears with his well-known trio or his eight-piece New Orleans Jazz Originals band. He performs with symphony orchestras, among them recently the Hartford Symphony, the St. Louis Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, and the Cairo (Egypt) Symphony. Widely known for his 12-year stint (1974-1986) as house pianist and bandleader on public radio’s A Prairie Home Companion, he continues as a frequent guest on that show. Th ompson was born and raised in Marine on St. Croix, a small river town in Minnesota, where he was playing Christmas carols on his mother’s upright piano by age three, and began formal lessons at six. He studied clarinet in high school, and led his fi rst professional jazz group as a senior. At 18, he made his pilgrimage to New Orleans, where he befriended and studied with the late clarinetist George Lewis, and was one of the few non-New Orleanians to appear at Preservation Hall during the 1960s and ‘70s. After two years in an Army band during the ‘60s, Th ompson returned to Minnesota. While studying Latin American music at the University of Minnesota, he spent some time in Ecuador, and wrote music based on that country’s folk tunes. Th e Minnesota Orchestra with Th ompson at the piano, premiered his Ecuadorean Suite, based on those early pieces in June 1998. In 1974, Th ompson began his well-remembered 12-year run as the house pianist on A Prairie Home Companion, beginning with the show’s fi rst broadcasts in July of that year. Th e Butch Th ompson Trio, formed as the show went into national distribution in 1978, remained the offi cial house band until 1986. During the 70s and 80s, he toured widely in Europe. In 1985, to commemorate the 100th birthday of jazz cornetist Joe “King” Oliver, he formed his eight-piece King Oliver Centennial Band for tours in Switzerland, Germany, and England. In 1987, Th ompson commissioned composer Gordon Wright to orchestrate the fi ve-part Gordon Wright to orchestrate the fi ve-part Gordon Wright Scott Joplin Suite for Piano and Orchestra. Since then, he has toured widely as a pops concert soloist, specializing in such American composers as Joplin, Fats Waller, Eubie Blake and James P. Johnson. During the early 90s, Thompson began an association with the off -Broadway show Jelly Roll! Th e Music and the Man, Th e Music and the Man, Th e Music and the Man which won Obie, Lucille Lortell and Outer Critics Circle awards as best off -Broadway musical of 1995. Th ompson worked onstage with the show in New York and on several national tours through 1997. In addition to his career as a performer, Th ompson writes articles and reviews on jazz and produces his own weekly radio show, Jazz Originals, on KBEM radio in Minneapolis. His writing has appeared in Th e Mississippi Rag, Keyboard Classics, New Orleans Music and other Th e Mississippi Rag, Keyboard Classics, New Orleans Music and other Th e Mississippi Rag, Keyboard Classics, New Orleans Music magazines, as well as in various CD booklets. One of Th ompson’s latest CDs, an album of holiday duets with cellist Laura Sewell, is titled Bethlehem After Dark. Th is release is the 10th in Th ompson’s acclaimed series for the Daring/ Rounder label of Boston. He also played on the Grammy-winning 1997 Verve release Doc Cheatham and Nicholas Payton. His 1968 solo recording debut, Butch Th ompson Plays Jelly Roll Morton, is currently available as a Biograph CD.
Jeff Beal | Film & TV Music
April 4, 2008 | Leave a Comment
It was our great honor to speak with Jeff Beal, composer of Ugly Betty, Monk and other television themes, and Pollock as well as many other movie scores. His music is compelling, fun, intense, brooding — and always wonderful. More information from www.jeffbeal.com
Jeff Beal is a composer, performer, producer, improviser. He is a consummate musician. He writes music for film, the concert hall, CDs and television. This web page came about because Jeff wanted to have one place available to his listeners. A place to unite his many pursuits. One location where people could go to find out more about his jazz CDs, how to rent his orchestral music, learn about film scoring or just get in touch with him. I’ve known Jeff for over twenty years, now. Sharing a passion for music comes easily to this man, but getting him to talk about himself or promote himself doesn’t. I, however, have no problem talking about Jeff. Let me fill you in….Jeff was born in 1963 in Hayward, CA, the East Bay area of San Francisco. His parents both grew up with music making in the home; naturally music was always present in their house. His mother studied piano as a child, and from an early age, Jeff enjoyed picking out tunes on the family’s upright piano. In the third grade, his father took him to a school assembly where students could listen to and select band instruments to borrow and study…(In those halcyon days before Prop. 13) Jeff sat through the assembly quietly, until the trumpet was demonstrated. “That’s it!” he told his father. “That’s what I want to play!”Jeff began practicing and improving on the trumpet. He worked a paper route on his bicycle, mornings before school, to purchase his own trumpet. His father’s mother Irene had performed as a pianist on live radio broadcasts , and now lived in San Francisco. Not your average grandma, she was an artist, bohemian and an avid jazz fan; sitting in on Mile’s Live at the Black Hawk recording sessions. She gave Jeff a copy of Sketches of Spain as a gift when he was ten. He had never heard music like this before…Gil Evan’s emotive, expressive orchestrations, combined with Mile’s haunting trumpet. Jeff began to study jazz improvisation, theory, and harmony on his own, later taking classes at a local college. He immersed himself in jazz recordings and transcribed the solos of Woody Shaw, Clifford Brown, Freddie Hubbard, Chet Baker and Miles…eventually writing his own jazz charts and performing them with the Monterey Jazz All Stars. Jeff also played in the Oakland Youth Symphony, conducted by Kent Nagano, and at 16 wrote an orchestral jazz trumpet concerto for that group. At night after school, Jeff would ride BART across the bay to San Francisco; sitting in at jam sessions led by musicians twice his age… listening, playing, and learning.Going to the Eastman School of Music was an opportunity for Jeff to continue his trumpet studies and to formally study composition. As an undergraduate, he took all of his double major classes, along with the classes offered to the master’s students in the jazz department. His spare moments were spent gigging with jazz professors and writing, writing, writing more music in the piano lab. Jeff was known to hide under the synclavier in the computer music lab, until the night watchman had passed, so that he could spend his nights undisturbed, writing and producing his own music.These synclavier demos lead to Jeff’s first solo album, Liberation; released in 1987. Now a conservatory graduate, living in New York City and working as a gigging musician, Jeff was signed by the Antilles division of Island Records. He played more dates with his own group, and began working on the music for a second album, when a move to San Francisco (for his wife’s career) lead to scoring work. Jeff’s first film score, Cheap Shots, was produced in a home studio in the tiny office of a rented home. Jeff soon was working as a ghost writer and arranger for other composers, always longing to be the guy with the gig and the credit.Moving to Los Angeles in 1992 provided Jeff with more opportunities and relationships. He continued making solo CDs, performing with his own jazz ensemble, and also contributed compositions to friend’s CD projects, like his Bass Concerto, written for John Patitucci and recorded at the request of Chick Corea. The opportunity to create an orchestral jazz trumpet concerto, a lifelong dream from the Sketches of Spain days, was realized when childhood friend and conductor Kent Nagano approached Jeff to write a piece for the Berkeley Symphony. The end result, Alternate Route, is a signature piece for Jeff, representing a union of his love for orchestral and improvised music.More opportunities for scoring came about as Jeff became known around town as the eclectic, classically trained, improvising, computer savvy composer. His scores ran the gamut from the earthy world music of Guy, to the ethereal music of Nothing Sacred, to the jazz inspired score to The Passion of Ayn Rand. It was in 2000 that Jeff’s most monumental opportunity presented itself. Jeff has heard that Ed Harris was producing, directing and starring in a biographical film about artist Jackson Pollock, and his agent had submitted his music for this independent film. Learning that another composer had been selected, Jeff tried to forget about the project, but it was difficult to dismiss. When he heard that Ed Harris was once again looking for a composer, he tried not to get his hopes up. What Jeff didn’t know was that Ed Harris had already fired two composers, and kept returning to Jeff’s submitted CD of cues. When Ed finally called Jeff personally to ask him to meet on Pollock, Ed admitted he didn’t know who Jeff was…he had lost his sheet of credits, and only had that one CD. The one CD he kept playing over and over. Jeff and Ed met and spotted Pollock that same day. They had an instant rapport. Ed spoke later of Jeff’s immediate understanding of the film and his ability to translate that into musical ideas. The rest, as they say, is history.Jeff Beal now finds himself happily living the life he has always imagined for himself. Composing music, collaborating with creative individuals, traveling, playing trumpet, riding his bike, and living a rather peaceful, reclusive life with his family in the rural outskirts of Los Angeles. We hope that you enjoy browsing this site, listening to the music and learning more about this immensely talented individual. Please contact Jeff with any questions or comments on the Contact page.
Doyle Lawson Transcript
March 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Dr. Kent: Welcome back to Sound Authors. On the fourth part of each show we feature authors of sound. One of my favorite authors of sound is a man named Doyle Lawson. He has played with just about anybody you can think of in the field of bluegrass. His band is always the best in the business. Welcome to the show.
Doyle: Thank you very much. It’s good to talk to you.
Dr. Kent: Now, tell me a little bit, where are you right now?
Doyle: Well, I am actually in Fredrick, Maryland, on my way down to Bethesda for a concert tonight at the Strathmore Theatre. And then we come back to Fredrick to the Weinberg Theatre tomorrow night.
Dr. Kent: How is the life on the road? How does it treat you?
Doyle: Well, I’ve been doing it for 45 years, and it’s treated me pretty good. [laughs] It all depends on how you take it and how you look at it. If you love to travel, as I do, it doesn’t bother you. If you’re not one that enjoys to travel and being on the road a good deal of the time, then I would suggest that you maybe take up bookkeeping or something like that. [laughs]
Dr. Kent: Your bands are always so incredible. How do you go about choosing the members of your bands?
Doyle: Well, I look for people that will fit the moods of the style of music I play, that can blend in with us and join in their efforts and keep the transition between one musician and another as seamless as possible, and still keep that sound that’s identified as Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver.
Dr. Kent: And they can all sing, that’s for sure.
Doyle: Primarily, the first thing I look for is the vocals, their vocal prowess and how they’ll blend with my voice and the other guys in the group at the time. But vocals are the primary thing I look for at first, and then I look at their skills as far as playing whichever instrument that I need to be played.
Dr. Kent: Let’s talk a little bit about your gospel music. I think you do gospel music the best of anybody in the business. Why is it that you have that soul in all of this music? Where does it come from?
Doyle: Well, I grew up in east Tennessee and my father was involved in quartet music. They sang all a cappella. During those days, when I was a child, most churches in and around the east Tennessee, southwestern Virginia area would have a quartet within the church, or a trio of some sort, but a lot of a cappella music.I learned to love gospel music being brought up in church and hearing my father in the quartet he’d sing with. It just left a lasting impact on my life. And I’m quick to tell people that as far as gospel music is concerned, he was my first and biggest influence.
Dr. Kent: Your newest album is called “Help Is On the Way.” There’s a whole bunch of albums that you all have put out. I love that every album is full of gospel music, full of vocal music, full of soul. This newest album, Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver “Help Is On the Way,” let’s listen to the title track, “Help Is On the Way.”[music]
Dr. Kent: That song is the title track from “Help Is On the Way,” released in 2008 by Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver. And that mandolin solo was yours, am I right?
Doyle: Yes, sir, that was me.
Dr. Kent: When did you start playing the mandolin?
Doyle: I started trying to learn to play mandolin when I was about 11 years old. One of the fellows that sang with my dad in the quartet, I discovered he had a little mandolin and asked my dad to see if I could borrow it. He did and I did, and I began to teach myself to play the mandolin.I’m self-taught pretty much, but along the way I had some help from the legendary Jimmy Martin of bluegrass fame, which was actually who I wound up going to work for my first professional job. In February of 1963, I took a job with Jimmy. But I started liking the mandolin when I was about four or five years old.I’ve played a lot of different instruments. The fact is, my first professional job I was a banjo player, but mandolin has always been my first love. And still, above all the things that I play, that’s my favorite and primarily that’s what I play most of the time.
Dr. Kent: The one thing I have heard about Jimmy Martin, who has now left us, but one of the best voices in the history of bluegrass. One thing that I’ve heard about him is that he was a school himself. He taught everybody how to sing, how to play. Didn’t matter if he was better than them at that instrument, but he would tell you if you were doing it right. Is that right?
Doyle: Absolutely, Jimmy was a taskmaster for sure, but he had when it came to his music, he knew exactly what he wanted and settled for nothing less than that. That was, of course, that was my earliest days of professional training.Before that my dad was the same way in the music he sang, even though they didn’t play, they sang; and they were very disciplined with it, as was Jimmy.So, that’s carried with me all these years. I’m much the same way when it comes to my group. When it comes to my music, I have a definite idea about how I want it to be. I tell them; the reason I hire these people is because I know that they can do what it is that I ask.
Dr. Kent: And you have such a different brand of bluegrass, I think. My opinion. One of my favorite albums is called “A School of Bluegrass.” It’s all of your outtakes from over the years.
Doyle: Yeah, that was something that I had. Over the years I would tape rehearsals and sometimes pick up a live show along the way or something like that. I got to looking through all the things that I had stored up. I discovered that pretty much I had rehearsals or some music by just about every formation of the groups down through the years to celebrate my 25 years as a bandleader.So the record company suggested that, since I’ve had so many great musicians come through here and go on and do quite well for themselves, that maybe they would like to call it “A School of Bluegrass,” because I am known as a taskmaster sometimes.But I never asked people to do anything that I wouldn’t do myself.
Dr. Kent: And you put out an album a year, at least. How do you do that?
Doyle: Well, you stay after it. There’s an old saying, out of sight, out of mind, and I’ve always tried to stay productive for the people. It’s good for me as a professional musician. It keeps my chops up. Keeps my interest up.I don’t want to slide into that safety zone where I say, “Well, OK, I’ve done this. I’ve done that. I’ve done this. I want to coast awhile.” I don’t believe in coasting. If you are going to be out here doing it, be productive.For two reasons: one, it keeps your talents up to par; and it gives people something fresh to know that Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver are still out there working hard to make sure that they have music that they can enjoy.
Dr. Kent: Now, my last question for you. How do you balance this: In the bluegrass world today, there is such a different group of folks that love the gospel and love the non-gospel music. How do you keep the gospel music alive?
Doyle: Well, you know, it’s something that for me that is more than just doing the music. It’s something that I believe in. My faith is very real and important to me in my walk of life and I believe myself, and show as an example of the way I think people should behave.I love gospel music, as I stated earlier. So I have found that my audience, whether it be an all-gospel concert or a mixture of both… sometimes I may go out at a concert and I start to trying to get a feel for the audience what they are enjoying the most.Sometimes I may do 60 percent bluegrass and 40 percent gospel. Or I may do 60 percent gospel and 40 percent bluegrass. It all depends on what they are really enjoying. If they are really enjoying the gospel music more, I do that. If they are enjoying the secular, I make sure that I do a good amount of gospel, but I kind of leave that up to each audience where we are going as to how much I’m doing of either one.
Dr. Kent: This has been a real honor speaking with Doyle Lawson of Quicksilver. You are a legend. It’s been great chatting with you and your new album is called “Help Is On the Way” from 2008.We’re going to listen to a track, a secular track called “Sadie’s Got Her New Dress On.” Thank you for being on the show.
Doyle: Been my pleasure. Thank you.[music]
Dr. Kent: Thank you for sitting in to Sound Authors. I’m Dr. Kent. I’ve been speaking with Doyle Lawson of Quicksilver. That’s who we are listening to in the background.And with two novelists: Kate Maloy with “Every Last Cuckoo,” Jim Olson with “The Eagle Unchained,” and then a woman who’s an expert on writing, Carolyn Howard-Johnson. Go visit all them on the web. Visit us atsoundauthors.com and we’ll see you soon.
Doyle Lawson | Bluegrass Gospel Harmony
March 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment
If Bill Monroe is the father of bluegrass, Doyle Lawson is the father of Bluegrass Gospel Harmony. His band has always had the best vocalists, and over decades in the business, each release he puts out is better than the last. We spoke with him about gospel, being on the road, and being in the business for so many years…More about Doyle Lawson from his website www.doylelawson.com:
I was born on April 20, 1944 in Ford Town, a part of Sullivan County, near Kingsport, TN, to Leonard and Minnie Lawson. I have two brothers, James and Les, and one sister, Colleen. As far back as I can remember, I loved the sound of music. Just about everyone listened to The Grand Ole Opry, and our family was no exception. Though I listened to all the stars on the Opry, the group that impressed me most was Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys. His music was different, more intense. High lonesome is the term we used for it. I could hardly wait for Saturday nights to arrive so I could listen. I decided early on that I wanted to play that kind of music. My father, mother, and sister all sang gospel music when I was young. They were members of trios and quartets that sang a cappella music in churches and at revivals, and such. No doubt, that was where I acquired my love of quartet music. When I was 11 or 12 years old I expressed an interest in learning to play the mandolin, so my Father borrowed one from one of the members of their quartet, Willis Byrd so I could try. I mostly taught myself to play by listening to the radio, a few records, and watching the occasional TV show. I eventually returned that mandolin to Mr. Byrd, and years later, he gave it back to me at one of the first concerts Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver played in Sneedville, TN. I still have it. I met Jimmy Martin when I was 14 years old. He is from Sneedville, TN where we had moved to in 1954. Around that time, I made up my mind that I wanted to play music for a living, and realized that only playing one instrument was somewhat limiting, so I made it a point to learn how to play the banjo and guitar, too. Four years later, in February 1963, I went to Nashville and got a job playing banjo with Jimmy Martin. In 1966, I started working with JD Crowe in Lexington, KY. I first played guitar and later switched to mandolin. In 1969, I was back with Jimmy Martin for about six months playing mandolin and singing tenor but then went back with J D Crowe until August of 1971. I started with the Country Gentlemen on September 1, 1971 and stayed with them until March 1979. By this time, I had played in bands for more than 10 years, that had their “sound” before I joined them. I wanted to put together a group that would have “my sound”. To that end, in April 1979, I formed a group that I first named Doyle Lawson & Foxfire but soon changed to Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. I was looking for “our sound” and that first group tried many different types of songs. I wanted a strong quartet like the ones my dad used to sing with. In the next few months, Terry Baucom, Jimmy Haley, Lou Reid and I laid the foundation for what has become the Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver sound. The makeup of my band has changed many times in the last 27 years. I jokingly tell folks that Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver is the “farm team” for bluegrass. I try to integrate each member’s special talents into my group, while not sacrificing the Quicksilver sound. While the sound changes a bit with the introduction of a new band member, it is important to me that people hear what they expect to hear when we take the stage, no matter who is in the group. My Father passed away in 1994, but my Mother still lives in Kingsport, TN, only thirty minutes from us. Suzanne, my wife, and I were married June 24, 1978. I have one son, Robbie, and we have two girls, Suzi and Kristi. Robbie and his wife, Carla, live in Kentucky. Suzi graduated from King College and works for the Daymon Corp in Meadowview,VA. Kristi attended King College for 2 years and is trying to finish up her education at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. We live close to South Holston Lake and enjoy the solitude of the water and mountains. Suzanne bought a small sailboat last fall and when I’m home and there is a breeze, we sail. I collect western memorabilia of Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, etc. I also enjoy looking at old cars, and I recently bought a 1946 Ford Coupe. It has been restored from the ground up and I’m enjoying riding around town in it.We are all members of Cold Spring Presbyterian Church and while Suzanne and Suzi are there almost every Sunday, I miss a few when I’m out on the road. I love golf, and play every time I have the opportunity. We have a Men’s Bible Study on Tuesday mornings and if I’m home, I try and make Bible Study and then several of us play golf.
I have been hosting the Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver festival in Denton, NC for more than twenty-five years. A few years ago we started a golf tournament on Thursday, the week of the festival. I’d like to be able to say we were defending our title every year, but we aren’t. (Just wishing)The gospel music that we record and perform on stage has always been important to me. Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver have made many more gospel recordings than secular ones. It is apparent to me that the folks who buy our music and come to our concerts feel, as I do, that there is no better message than the message of Jesus Christ. On the first Sunday of May, in 1985, I rededicated my life to our Lord Jesus. It is my fervent hope that my “musical mission” will lead others to Him.
Jimmy Scott Transcript
March 22, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Kent: Welcome back to “Sound Authors.” On the fourth part of each show we like to feature an author of sound and it’s my pleasure today to welcome one of the great authors of sound, Jimmy Scott. He got his start in the Lionel Hampton band quite a long time ago, the 1940s.He’s signed the Ray Charles Tangerine Record Label. In the ’60s he faded out of the music scene and worked in a hospital as an elevator operator. And came back in the ’90s and has put out several albums since.Welcome so much to the show “Little” Jimmy Scott.
Jimmy Scott: My pleasure.
Kent: Now, I saw you sing out here in Stony Brook, New York. You sang at the University and that was a real pleasure. You have so much soul. I shouldn’t say that you’re getting up in years, but it seems like you have still got the same soul that you’ve always had.
Jimmy: Well, thank you. Thank you.
Kent: And do you sing every day?
Jimmy: Ah, yeah, just about. I do a little silent singing to myself that’s my way of reviewing certain tones and I do that within myself.
Kent: In your head?
Jimmy: Yes.
Kent: Where are you talking to us from? Do you live in Las Vegas now?
Jimmy: Yes.
Kent: How’s that?