2010年4月26日

There is probably a very good reason why James Fallows doesn't have a platinum album and Deborah Harry will never get close to taking home a Pulitzer. And that reason, a knack for speech writing for US presidents and coke addictions notwithstanding, is because mixing music and journalism is fucking difficult. Tack on the realities of trying to get things done in China and then "fucking difficult" could then be accurately adjusted to "super fucking crazy difficult." I wouldn't want to be one of them, but sometimes I do envy people that are really good at just one thing. I don't mean you, Jimmy and Debbie. Not necessarily. But I just turned 25 yesterday and got to thinking about ambition and direction and success and all of that, and right when I was beginning to despair I suddenly thought of Steve Martin. Now he's something. An actor, comedian, playwright and a talented one at that who is also a pretty good banjo player and songwriter. He won a Grammy in 2009 for Best Bluegrass Album with The Crow and is about to start a second with the Steep Canyon Rangers (you can found out more on his site stevemartin.com). And what's more, he seems like a pretty decent guy. 

Suffice it to say, I'd like to be like Steve Martin when I grow up. 

But as I'm getting there, one of the stops has been working on this album with The Redbucks. We've been playing together for a little over a year now and it's been a real learning experience for me. I've learned so much about the patience and dedication it takes to really allow players to develop, both individually and as a group. Each of us has something very integral to offer, and working on this album as really made that evident like never before. We're all tighter as musicians and more confident as artists as a result, I think. Luke's really grown into his role as band leader and as a songwriter. Ten of the 13 songs are his, and they're real hits, guys. Amy wrote a fiddle tune and her ability to pick out harmonies has carried us really far, in addition to her wild fiddlin'. Chris has really blossomed with his mandolin solos, and Chip truly guides the band rhythmically with his guitar and his unbridled enthusiasm to incorporate songs that we otherwise probably wouldn't consider. Jackson's bass playing as been instrumental (pun intended) and even with a baby on the way, has still been a presence. As for me, my banjo abilities have surpassed my guitar abilities and I'm a-ok with that. I wrote two tunes for the album "The Wedding Cake Song" and "Heartbreak," which are old-time and country tunes, respectively, that I'm quite proud of. Being in this group's expanded my idea of what a song can really be once you learn the lingo and really listen, often and closely, to what others have done for guidance. Also as someone who typically sings lead vocals, I've really learned a great deal about how to sing better harmonies. I think we've all learned so much from the process and each other (as corny as that sounds).

The real news is that The Redbucks have nailed an album release party date for June 12 at Yugong Yishan. It'll be one hell of a good time, with a live show featuring the classics in addition to the album's songs. There will be plenty of CDs to buy (if we choose not to include it in the ticket price) and Redbucks shwag for sale as well. This is all to inaugurate our upcoming China tour. (Yes, we're going on tour in CHINA!) We've already got venues set for Qingdao, Shangai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong and there could be a few others tucked in there as well depending on that ineffable budget...

All good things. And I've already got a Daisy Sweetgrass solo album and a Beijing Buskers club on the brain...

I'll do better in the future to keep y'all posted. Stay tuned!

2010年05月10日

If there's any better evidence for how busy this past weekend was, it was my 12 hour hibernation last night. Yesterday involved a solid ten hours recording at Luke's for The Redbucks' upcoming album (and we are are ever-so-quickly finding ourselves further and further outside of our set deadlines). We kicked Luke's poor girlfriend out and embarked on recording the vocal tracks, that with our three and sometimes four-part harmonies, seem like layers without end. Hopefully, by today and tomorrow we'll finish up and have it ready for mastering by Black Cat Bone's lead guitarist and thrasher Jaime Welton, who's agreed to lend us his expertise so long as Chip and Chris build him a website for his metal band Bad Mamasan. The Beijing music scene's beautifully small and navigable in that way. It just so happens that he and our bassist, Jackson, live right across the hall from each other. Jackson's a great example of the music family tree that exists among the scene here, which I would love to share in a visual at a later day. 

This past weekend myself and The Redbucks (minus Amy) played a 30 minute set at the Ditan Folk Festival. The two day festival offered Beijingers a chance to lounge on grass (the only time you are allowed to lie on grass in Chinese parks is when there's a festival, I've learned), drink smuggled Yanjings and listen to some spectacular bands (and admittedly some not so spectacular, or so folk for that matter). We played on the first day of the festival (May 8) and shared the stage with: Xiao Meng, Lv Weiqing/Hong Yuetan, Su Yu, Wang Juan, Buyi, Zhang Quan, Hoochie Coochie Gentlemen, Zhang Si'an, Migratory Bird (featuring the talent of French accordionist Marie-Claude) and HangGai. 

It was honestly the first time in a long while that I felt nervous before going up on stage to play a show. None of us had ever played a real festival before, and while the vibe was really pleasant and chill (everything I would've wanted MIDI to be, but wasn't) people were intently listening to us, which doesn't happen so much when you play bars. It was, in effect, quite sobering. We opened the show with All That Glitters, which is a Redbucks anthem that Luke wrote. There was a momentary pause after the song ended, which left us feeling slightly panicky for a second. That is, until the whole place erupted into applause. It felt fucking awesome. I couldn't say we played our best show. There were wrong notes, feedback and tempo issues, but people got really into it, which makes the technical stuff seem pretty paltry. And it doesn't hurt that we had a bubble machine. Don't believe me? Go here and scroll down to the bottom of the page. 

Dec 10, 2010

I departed dear old Beijing on Sept 14, and have been ramblin' and rolln' ever since. My journeys took me across Mongolia and Siberia to Moscow via the Trans-Siberian railroad (I teamed up with Nikita's Guesthouse's own accosrionist virtuoso, Nikolai, on Olkhon Island and made 500 rubles). From moscow I flew to Morocco to meet up with a friend for a road-trip where I learned that Moroccan are no strangers to banjos, and even had a nice jam with two Berber brothers at Les 5 Lunes Guesthouse, where we stayed in the Atlas Mountains. I crossed the Strait of Gibraltar to be both visually and gastronomically mesmorized by Spain. Then New York, south Florida, a trip to Memphis and a cross-country road trip with Mom to San Diego (we made sure to stop by the Grand Canyon en route) and now back to Florida before I start school in January.

Yes, my wonderful news is that I was accepted to Berklee College of Music in Boston to study songwriting and to improve my pickin' skills (among other things). So from now on I'll be keeping y'all posted of my shows from the northeast.

Meantime, I'm about to head out the door for Miami where today I'll be a guest on WLRN, Miami's local NPR station. Michael Stock hosts a Folk and Accoustic show every Sunday from 2-5pm, and he's invited me to be a guest. He's be filming it and posting it online. When it's all said and done, I'll be posting a link of it on this site for your enjoyment.

Wish me luck!

April 10, 2011

So I'm coming up on the end of my very first semester at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Man, has it blown by. I'm going to go ahead and say it's been a real adjustment in many respects. Moving to Boston in the middle of winter was more formidable than I ever imagined, but school's really coming along. There are a mere six of us banjo principles at Berklee (a great group of guys, and they are incredibly supportive of me, the lone lady in the program), and thanks to an "anonymous" donation of $90,000 to the school specifially for banjo instruction (I say anonymous because the compelling rumor is that the money was donated by Steve Martin, because who else has that kind of money to throw to banjo dissemination and philanthropy?). This has resulted in visits, i.e. masterclasses and private instruction from pickers Tony Trishka, Noam Pikelny, and the godfather- Bela Fleck. There are moments when I pause to think just how insane it is that a woman who didn't pick up a banjo 'til the age of 24, finds herself in a room getting a private lesson from these banjo legends a year and a half later. Super nervous about my technical ability, they all emphaszed the importance of passion and patience and staying true to my individual sound- the technical stuff will come. It's been incredibly inspriing, although I'm still anxious about my upcoming banjo proficiency exam- my exams in general. There is nothing about this education that I already know. I've always been musical, but the theory, the ear-training, the sight-reading, the improvizing on my instrument, the musical notation...I don't recall ever working so hard in my life. It can be overwhelming at times, but ultimately more gratifying than anything.

And don't worry, I'm still writing. That'll never stop. I've been working on some new material, as well as digging up old tunes and setting them to banjo accompaniment. I'm really looking forward to the coming summer and gigging with my new Berklee friend, Jose. We've been collaborating on original songs, and it's been going really well. Will be sure to keep you updated, and will post recordings and gigs when they materialize, which will hopefully be s-o-o-n!